Rising from the Ashes (Andrew and Lauren) novel Chapter 1385

Just as Andrew got into the car, his phone rang—it was Francesca. He chuckled and said, "Fran, I'm on my way back now!"

To his surprise, Francesca sounded frantic. "Andrew, no! Don't come back—whatever you do, don't come back right now!"

Andrew was confused. "Don't come back? Then where am I supposed to go?"

Francesca said urgently, "Aspen left. She's following her parents back to Bridgefields!"

Andrew's face darkened instantly. "When did she leave?"

Francesca shouted, "Just now! You can still catch her if you hurry to the airport! Mr. Stevens was the one who dragged her out—he forced her to go!"

Andrew let out a low, sharp breath. "Got it. I'm going to the airport right now!"

He hung up and immediately told the driver to turn around and head straight to Blumedale Airport.

The driver groaned. "Sir, are you trying to make my life hell? The airport's a nightmare this time of day—traffic's brutal!"

Without a word, Andrew opened his phone and transferred a solid 10,000 dollars into the driver's payment app.

"How about now?" he asked, calm and cold.

The driver's eyes nearly popped out of his head. Then, he grinned. "Say no more, sir. If I don't get you to the airport in 20 minutes, I'll let you use my head as a soccer ball!"

"You've got ten minutes," Andrew replied flatly.

"Done! No problem at all!" Inwardly, the driver was still stunned—he had clearly just picked up a high roller.

With that, he slammed his foot on the gas, and they roared off like a rocket.

…

Meanwhile, Zephyr and Esther were already leading Aspen through the terminal as the boarding call rang out through the PA system.