The Billionaire’s Bride Pushed His Mother Off the Rooftop—Then the Maid Did the Unthinkable

The icy water hit Rose like a sledgehammer, driving the breath from her lungs. The current was an angry, swirling monster, dragging her toward the subterranean outflow pipe that emptied into the open Atlantic.

Through the murky blackness, she saw Leo’s silhouette sinking rapidly, weighed down by heavy wet clothes.

Rose kicked frantically, her lungs burning, screaming for oxygen. Her scarred hands fought against the dragging undertow. She reached out, her fingers brushing the fabric of his sleeve.

*I won't let you fall,* she swore in her soul. *Not today. Not ever.*

With one final, desperate burst of strength, she hooked her arm beneath Leo's neck. Kicking toward the surface, she broke through the churning foam, gasping for air.

"Leo! Breathe, Leo!" she choked out, holding his head above water. Leo coughed violently, vomiting river water, sputtering into the rain.

"Rose!"

Nathaniel was there. He had stripped his coat and dove in without a second's hesitation. His powerful arms reached them in seconds, grabbing Leo and hoisting him up to Marcus, who was reaching down from an extraction raft.

Marcus hauled the boy to safety, wrapping him in an emergency thermal blanket.

Nathaniel turned in the water, pulling Rose into his chest, his arms locked around her like bands of forged steel. "I have you," he wept into the freezing rain, his tears mixing with the river water. "I have you, my love."

Rose clung to him, shivering violently, feeling the steady, thundering beat of his heart against hers. "Leo is safe... we did it, Nathaniel."

Nathaniel kissed her face, her hair, her scarred hands. "You saved us all. It’s over. Thorne is finished."

Marcus helped haul them both onto the industrial raft. The police sirens were wailing in the distance, blue and red lights painting the night sky across the pier. Victoria was being dragged into a squad car in chains, screaming curses into the storm.

Nathaniel wrapped his heavy wool jacket around Rose's trembling shoulders, pulling her against his chest as they stepped back onto the concrete pier. Leo threw his arms around them both, weeping with relief.

For the first time in what felt like an eternity, Rose exhaled.

Then, high on the industrial ridge overlooking Pier 44, Marcus’s radio clicked with a sharp burst of static.

"Sir," an operative whispered from the perimeter perimeter post. "We have a critical breach at Vance Manor."

Nathaniel’s head snapped toward the radio, his blood running cold. "What are you talking about? Victoria is in custody!"

"It wasn't Victoria, Mr. Vance," the panicked voice on the radio crackled through the storm, accompanied by the chilling sound of distant gunfire at the manor. "Arthur Thorne wasn't trying to rescue his daughter tonight. Pier 44 was a diversion. Arthur Thorne... he just breached the penthouse. He has Eleanor."

Rose and Nathaniel looked into each other's eyes, the horror returning with catastrophic vengeance.