Chapter 498

Julian's words made it clear—Blackwood Group was in deep trouble this time. Nathaniel had vanished at the worst possible moment, his fate unknown. Even if he was alive, he'd be fighting an uphill battle.

But why should Vivian care?

Empires rose and fell. Blackwood Group had dominated the industry for decades. Its decline was inevitable.

Even if she agreed to step in for Nathaniel, she couldn't reverse the company's downfall.

Still, curiosity gnawed at her. Who had the audacity to target the Blackwood heir not once, but twice? She opened her laptop, searching for details about Sebastian's murder years ago.

The internet yielded almost nothing. The Blackwoods had clearly scrubbed the records clean.

Sebastian's case had happened five years ago in Newport City. The local police archives might hold answers.

Vivian considered hacking into their system. But Newport PD used an archaic binary key code—her biggest weakness.

Years ago, she'd lost a global hacking competition to Julian Blackthorn because of it. He was the expert in that field.

Asking him for help now? No. He'd been quiet lately, and she wasn't about to invite trouble.

She'd do this herself.

Her fingers flew across the keyboard. Multiple attempts. Multiple failures. Then—alarms blared. The police were tracing her IP.

"Damn it!"

She shut everything down. Not worth the risk. This wasn't her problem anyway.

She had more pressing concerns—Adrian's whereabouts. How was Sophia doing? Had William been rescued? If he survived, would he reveal where Adrian was?

The doorbell rang.

"Who the hell visits this late?"

Vivian slammed her laptop shut and marched to the door.