He left the hospital immediately, storming through the parking lot, his heart pounding. The rain had started to fall — heavy, relentless — but he barely noticed.
There was only one place left to go.
Vivienne’s father’s office.
He didn’t even wait for the secretary to announce him. He burst through the doors, slamming them shut behind him. “Where is she?” he demanded, dripping water across the marble floor. “Where the hell is your daughter?”
Mr. Howard looked up slowly from behind his desk, calm — too calm. “Mr. Calder.”
Adrian’s chest heaved. “Don’t play dumb with me. You know where she is. You helped her, didn’t you? Tell me right now or—”
“Or what?” Mr. Howard’s tone was cold, cutting through the air like a knife. “You’ll threaten me? Haven’t you done enough damage to my family?”
Adrian’s nostrils flared. “You think you can talk to me like that? You forget that the merger—”
“There is no merger,” Mr. Howard interrupted sharply. “Not anymore.”
Adrian froze. “What?”
Mr. Howard rose from his chair, every inch the powerful man he used to admire — now looking at him like he was nothing. “You heard me. No merger. No partnership. No alliance. From this day on, we have nothing to do with you or your company.”
“You can’t—”
“Oh, but I can.” Mr. Howard leaned forward, his voice low and dangerous. “I know what you did to Vivienne. I know about Seraphine. About every lie you did to ruin my daughter. About Elias.”
Adrian’s jaw clenched, his pulse quickening. “Watch your mouth.”
But Mr. Howard didn’t back down. “You fooled her. You made her believe she was pregnant when she wasn’t. You made her live a lie. And now, because of your greed and deceit, she’s gone — and she took her freedom with her. Good for her.”
Adrian slammed his fist on the desk. “You don’t know anything!”
“Oh, I know enough.” Mr. Howard motioned to his guards. “You should leave now, Mr. Calder. Before I decide to press charges myself.”
Adrian’s face contorted in rage. “You think this is over?” he hissed. “You think you can hide her from me? I’ll find her. I’ll find her and she’ll regret ever crossing me.”
Mr. Howard didn’t even flinch. “Even if I knew where she was,” he said coldly, “I wouldn’t tell you. Because I was wrong — about everything. I thought you could make my daughter happy. But all you did was destroy her.”
He turned away, signaling the guards. “Now get out of my office.”