Chapter 423

Julian Langley's face darkened like a thundercloud.

His knuckles turned white as he clenched his fists, staring in the direction where Hugo Rothschild had disappeared.

That arrogant fool had to cause trouble at the worst possible moment.

Timothy Gold and the crew were organizing the evacuation, returning the guests' confiscated phones.

The moment Julian powered on his device, dozens of missed call notifications flooded the screen.

Before he could even process them, Victoria Langley's call came through.

"Julian!"

Her scream was so piercing he had to hold the phone away to protect his eardrums.

"What kind of brother are you? Letting Evelyn walk straight into danger?"

Victoria's voice cracked with barely restrained sobs.

She knew she shouldn't take it out on her son, but she needed an outlet for her terror.

"Mom, Evelyn knows what she's doing," he said softly. "The military's en route. Me going ashore now would only complicate things."

Muffled weeping filtered through the receiver.

Victoria couldn't erase the images of armed pirates from her mind.

Though the drone footage had been shaky, she'd seen her daughter take down those criminals with lethal precision.

But bullets don't discriminate.

Ethan Sullivan and his team had vanished from the cameras—their fate unknown.

The drones now hid in the treetops, their lenses trembling, one stray shot away from destruction.

"Trust her, Mom." Julian's voice strained. "Ethan and Evelyn will make it back alive."

His fists trembled with suppressed rage.

They were up against ruthless pirates. Three against an army.

And one of those three was dead weight.

But he couldn't voice that thought.

As Richard Langley murmured reassurances, Victoria finally steadied her breathing.

"Whoever dared threaten my daughter on that island," she said, wiping her tears with surgical precision, "will pay in blood."

Each syllable dripped with glacial fury.