Chapter 278

“Shh, go back to sleep. I’ve got something to take care of.”
Harrison still needed to deal with the medical records. He’d meant to do it earlier, but Anastasia had insisted he stay with her, so he’d reluctantly put it off. Now, though, it was time.
As for sleep, he could go two nights without it and still be sharp. Missing half a night was nothing.
But Anastasia was not having it. After all the trouble she’d gone through to light the scented candles, if he didn’t sleep, wouldn’t all her effort go to waste?
She clung to him even more tightly, her voice soft and wheedling. “No, stay with me a little longer, please? Can’t you let Logan handle it?”
Harrison could never resist her when she acted like this. With a resigned sigh, he lay back down, letting her wrap herself around him like an octopus, as if she was afraid he’d vanish the moment she let go. The indulgence and helplessness in his dark eyes said it all.
Fine. Let Logan take care of it. The outcome would be the same.
He didn’t care about Alice’s fate. Now that the kidnappers had lost their leverage, silencing them and cleaning up the leaked records would be no trouble at all.
Twenty minutes later.
Anastasia cracked one eye open.
She was sprawled across Harrison’s chest, and she whispered, “Honey?”
Just to be sure, she poked his handsome, chiseled face.
Normally, with Harrison’s keen senses, he would’ve noticed the moment she moved. But this time, nothing-no reaction at all.
Success!
Relieved, Anastasia slipped out of bed, rushed to get dressed, and hurried downstairs.
Logan was already waiting for her, pacing anxiously. The moment he saw her, he asked, “Where’s Mr. Lancaster? He didn’t notice, did he?”
“Don’t worry, he won’t find out. Let’s go!”
Anastasia was confident in her blend of sleep-inducing aromatics.
Two hours later.
Outskirts of the city.
“Alice, run!” Content orıginally comes from.net
Thomas was covered in blood, barely holding onto consciousness as he shoved Alice forward.
He glanced back. For some reason, the kidnappers had suddenly turned back instead of chasing after them.
But that didn’t mean they were safe.
“Thomas… Thomas!” Alice was sobbing uncontrollably, paralyzed with fear as Thomas collapsed to the ground.
“Go Thomas urged, his voice strained. “You have to get help! If I die here, Alice, promise me you’ll tell Mr. Lancaster-I didn’t leak the records. I never betrayed him
Alice’s expression shifted.
“I never betrayed Mr. Lancaster Thomas repeated.
Blood kept seeping from his wounds. As his life ebbed away, this was all that mattered to him.
He’d been responsible for Mr. Lancaster’s health for years. Now, with the confidential files leaked, everyone would suspect him-but he was innocent.
As a child, he’d almost starved; it was Mr. Lancaster who’d given him a future. Mr. Lancaster was the closest thing he had to family. Betrayal was unthinkable.
He’d wanted to go to Mr. Lancaster and prove his innocence, but on the way, he’d overheard Alice was in trouble-and Mr. Lancaster had no plans to save her.
“Alice, go.”
Looking at the terrified, tear-streaked girl in front of him, Thomas forced out the words.
He’d made his choice-he’d taken a bullet for her, and now he was giving her the chance to escape, even at the cost of his own life.
The two pillars of his world: Mr. Lancaster, and Alice.
If it meant dying for the woman he loved, maybe that wasn’t such a terrible end.
Still, he wished—just once-he could hear Mr. Lancaster say he believed him.
“Tell Mr. Lancaster it wasn’t me His voice was barely more than a whisper, blood trickling from his lips.
“Okay, okay, I promise!” Alice stammered, eyes flickering as she turned and stumbled away.
Thomas felt the last of his strength draining out with his blood. His vision blurred, his body numb.
He was dying.
Suddenly, footsteps echoed from the path behind them.
His eyes sharpened. Summoning the last scrap of strength, he pushed himself up, fury burning in his gaze.
But then he saw who it was. His pupils contracted in shock.
“You… What are you doing here?”