Chapter 2

The Rolls-Royce Phantom screeched to a halt in the underground emergency bay of a top-tier Manhattan private hospital.

Ignoring his severe germaphobia and the neurotoxin still burning through his veins, Gordon kicked the car door open and carried the blood-soaked Hedy straight into the blindingly white lobby.

"Gurney! Now!" Colin roared as a team of elite obstetricians sprinted forward.

Hedy was immediately rushed toward the VIP operating room. Her haggard face was deathly pale, and her weak breath seemed like it could stop at any second.

Moments later, the head surgeon rushed out, his forehead dripping with cold sweat. "Sir, the patient is suffering from a massive hemorrhage! She's in critical condition. We need a family member to sign the consent form immediately!"

Colin frowned, stepping forward. "We aren't her—"

Before Colin could finish, a large, well-defined hand snatched the pen from the doctor. Gordon signed his name with sharp, forceful strokes.

"I want her alive," Gordon ordered, his deep voice radiating a terrifying, bone-chilling pressure. "If she dies on that table, I will tear this hospital to the ground."

The surgeon shuddered under the man's abyss-like gaze. "Y-Yes, sir! We will do everything we can!"

Ten minutes later, in the top-floor VIP lounge.

A doctor carefully pulled an IV needle from Gordon's arm. The serum was finally suppressing the neurotoxin, but it left his mind slightly exhausted.

Gordon leaned back against the dark leather sofa, his long fingers absentmindedly tracing the mud-stained emerald pendant. The delicate letter 'H' carved into the back gleamed under the light.

Down the hallway, Britney Burch, who had tailed the Phantom through the storm, pressed herself against a marble pillar.

Her eyes widened in shock. That was Gordon Nieves, the ruthless tyrant of Wall Street! And in his hand was Hedy's emerald pendant!

Britney swallowed hard, her heart hammering in terror. She was terrified of this legendary tyrant, but that pendant was the only key to the Burch family trust! If she didn't get it back, the shares would be lost forever.

Biting her lip, she forced down her fear. She quickly messed up her hair, pinched her thigh to force out tears, and stumbled out from behind the pillar.

"Mr. Nieves!" she cried out, her voice trembling with manufactured vulnerability.

Two black-suited bodyguards instantly blocked her path, reaching for their holsters.

Gordon turned around, his pitch-black eyes locking onto the weeping woman. "Let her through."

Britney walked forward with trembling knees and dropped to the floor, her tear-filled eyes staring longingly at the stone in his hand. "That... that pendant is mine!"

Gordon's eyes narrowed dangerously. He took a long stride forward, his large hand shooting out to grip her chin. With a bruising force that nearly crushed her jawbone, he forced her head up, his gaze filled with a heavy, predatory scrutiny.

"Yours?" Gordon's voice was deathly quiet.

Swallowing a scream from the pain in her jaw, Britney squeezed out more tears. "Yes... It's my mother's relic. It has the letter 'H' engraved on the back. It was stolen from me a few days ago by a thief... I tracked the thief in the rain all the way here!"

Gordon stared into her flickering amber eyes. The contours of her face bore a slight resemblance to the blurry silhouette from his memory.

Slowly, he released her chin.

"What is your name?" Gordon asked coldly.

Britney lowered her head, acting timid. "Britney... Britney Burch."

Hearing the name, Colin frowned and stepped closer to Gordon. "Boss, we should verify her identity. The Burch family doesn't exactly have a clean reputation."

Gordon picked up the emerald pendant and gave Britney a flat, emotionless look.

"Since the pendant belongs to you, the Nieves family pays its debts," Gordon said, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Tomorrow, my lawyers will send an engagement agreement to the Burch estate."

Britney's breath hitched. She pressed a trembling hand over her mouth to trap a shriek of pure, ecstatic joy.

She had only risked her life to get the key to the trust fund, but she had just effortlessly landed the richest man in the world! Hedy, that bitch, was probably bleeding to death on the operating table right now, while she was about to become the most powerful woman in New York!

Suddenly, a piercing alarm blared through the corridor.

A nurse bolted out of the elevator, her face as pale as a ghost. "Code Red! The patient in the VIP delivery room... she knocked out the doctor and escaped!"

Gordon stood up so fast he knocked the medical tray off the table. A terrifying, suffocating rage instantly gripped his chest.

He strode out of the lounge and kicked the delivery ward door open. The room was a complete mess. Bloodstained sheets trailed across the pristine floor, leading straight to the wide-open window. The freezing night wind howled into the empty room.

Colin rushed in, holding a printed security frame, his face full of sheer disbelief. "Boss... it's unbelievable. She actually escaped down the fire escape right outside the window."

Gordon stood by the sill, staring down into the pitch-black alley below. His knuckles turned white as his grip tightened around the emerald pendant.

"Find her," Gordon ordered, his voice dripping with an obsessive, bone-chilling absolute authority. "Even if you have to tear New York apart, find her!"