BONDS UNBROKEN

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

Chapter Forty-five

storm outside had died down to a fine drizzle, tapping lightly against the wide glass windows of Marcellus’ penthouse. Inside, however, the atmosphere was taut with a different kind of storm.

Grace’s sudden disappearance had left more questions than answers. She had slipped away like smoke, vanishing before Marcellus’ men could pin her to anything solid. No forwarding address, no trace of her apartment—almost as if she had planned her escape long before Briella had called her out.

Briella sat on the edge of the leather sofa, her knees drawn slightly together, fingers entwined in restless knots. Across from her, Annabel leaned against the armrest of a chair, watching Marcellus pace. His face was taut with concentration, jaw hard as granite.

“It doesn’t add up,” Annabel muttered. “A secretary doesn’t just abandon her position without a plan. She had access to your files, Marcellus. Your meetings. Your movements. And now—”

“Now she’s gone.” Marcellus cut her off, voice sharp. He turned, running a hand through his hair before exhaling. “She was never just a secretary. That much is clear.”

Silence stretched between them. The faint hum of the city below filled in the gaps.

Briella’s chest ached with the weight of it all. “Then someone put her there. Someone wanted her close to you.” Her tone was calm, but inside, her heart was racing.

Marcellus finally looked at her, and in his eyes there was something vulnerable—guilt, perhaps. “I should’ve seen it earlier. She was with me for years, Briella. Years. And I never once suspected.”

Annabel pushed off her chair and walked to the window, staring at the shadowy cityscape. “If she’s gone, she’s not just running. She’s being protected. Which means the person behind this still has pieces to play.”

The rain pattered harder against the glass as if underscoring her words.

Briella rose and crossed the room to where Marcellus stood. She touched his arm lightly. He didn’t flinch, but his expression softened, just slightly.

“We’ll figure this out,” she told him. Her voice was steady even though her own doubts were eating her alive. “Whoever planted her isn’t invisible forever.”

For the first time that night, his hand closed gently over hers. “Not as long as you’re with me.”

Annabel turned back, her eyes narrowing at the quiet moment between them. A small smile tugged at her lips despite the seriousness. “Romantic promises aside, we need to double-check everything. Every contract signed, every meeting arranged, every person who’s come too close.”

Marcellus nodded. “We’ll tighten the walls. And we’ll wait. Grace will slip up—people like her always do.”

But in Briella’s chest, a cold unease spread. Because something told her Grace wasn’t the kind of person who slipped.

She was the kind who disappeared without a sound.

And someone, somewhere, wanted her gone for reasons none of them had yet seen.

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✨ End of Chapter Forty-five ✨