From His Ex-Wife to the World's Most Sought-After Restorer (Jade and Hudson) novel Chapter 171

Lyndon let out a harsh, guttural scoff before stalking toward the parking lot and peeling away in his car.

Half an hour later, he pulled up to the back gate of the psychiatric hospital to meet Amara Hoyt.

The moment he laid eyes on her, he cornered her with a predatory intensity.

"You promised that if I let you come back, you'd wrap Hudson Walter around your finger and keep us safe. You said Ronald's death would stay buried forever. But the Faith family is already breathing down my neck, and you haven't done a damn thing! How much longer do I have to wait?"

Amara's eyes welled with tears as she let out a shaky sob. "Do you think I enjoy living in constant fear? I'm doing everything I can, but my hands are tied!"

Lyndon lit a cigarette and took a long, desperate drag, his tone turning reckless and dark.

"I don't care! If you don't find a way out soon, and the Faiths catch me, I'm taking you down with me. We sink or swim together, Amara. Don't you forget it!"

Amara's pupils shrank as her nails bit deep into her palms, drawing blood.

"I... I stole those classified files from the Faiths just to help you! How can you be so cold-blooded now?"

"To help me?" Lyndon let out a jagged laugh, blowing a cloud of smoke directly into her face.

"You spent your fair share of the money we made from those files, didn't you? Listen to me, Amara: we're both in this blood-deep. If you try to double-cross me, I'll kill you myself."

Amara shivered, terrified by the raw, murderous intent in his eyes.

She scrambled to find an excuse, her voice trembling.

"I told you, it's not that I don't want to! It's Jade Merchant. She's like a different person now—ruthless and impossible to read. I'm no match for her!"

"That little rabbit? You're telling me you can't handle her?" Lyndon's impression of Jade was still stuck on the night at the club when she had fled in a panic after being caught taking photos.

To him, it was a fluke that she'd caught them at all.

He believed that with Amara's cunning, someone like Jade should be easy to crush.

Amara felt a surge of frustration. Everyone thought Jade was some fragile, innocent thing, but she knew better—Jade's heart had turned black long ago.

She pointed to the angry, swollen bruise on her cheek where Bert Walter had struck her.

"Look at this! Jade set me up to take this hit. Do you still think she's 'simple'?"

Lyndon waved her off, his focus shifting back to the main objective.

"Whatever. If you want to brainwash Hudson into protecting us, you need to get the hell out of this hospital first."

Amara ran a frantic hand through her hair. "You think I don't know that? If I could leave, I would have left days ago!"

Lyndon's gaze turned sharp. "I don't believe for a second you haven't thought of a way."

Amara glared at him, and Lyndon leaned in, his voice dropping to a low hiss.

"Get yourself out of here and get Hudson back on our side. Do that, and I'll take care of Jade for you, once and for all."

She focused her efforts on Hudson's bedroom and his study.

In a house this size, those were the only two places he would ever hide something as precious as her mother's ashes.

After a fruitless search of the bedroom, she moved into the study.

She went through every drawer, every cabinet, every shelf...

Suddenly, her gaze fixed on an empty space in the middle of a high bookshelf.

The moonlight streaming through the window hit a porcelain jar, making it glow with an eerie, white light.

She remembered her mother's ashes were kept in a jar exactly like that. Could it be...?

Jade stepped closer, reaching out instinctively. Realizing the shelf was too high, she dragged a chair over to climb up, but a set of footsteps echoed from behind her.

Clack—

Clack, clack—

Clack, clack, clack—

The steady, rhythmic sound felt like a death knell in the silent room. A chill ran down Jade's spine. She quietly stepped off the chair and instinctively dove under the large mahogany desk to hide.

But before she could even tuck herself away, two strong arms reached into the shadows, seized her by the waist, and dragged her out.