Chapter 10 - WHY HENRY PIERCE WANTED NOELLE
Henry Pierce wanted Noelle because she owned something she didn't know she possessed.
A building.
Not technically.
Not yet.
Twenty-seven years earlier, Noelle's mother had inherited a warehouse on the Chicago River from an uncle.
The property eventually passed to Noelle through a trust.
Noelle had never heard of it.
Gabriel's attorney found the documents.
"Why would anyone hide this from me?"
"Because the trust doesn't transfer until your thirty-second birthday."
Noelle stared at him.
"That's three weeks away."
Gabriel nodded.
The warehouse sat directly beside land Henry Pierce had spent fifteen years purchasing.
A massive redevelopment project was planned for the riverfront.
Noelle's property cut through the center of it.
Without her signature, the project couldn't proceed.
"How much is it worth?"
Gabriel's attorney hesitated.
"Potentially seventy million dollars."
Noelle laughed.
Nobody joined her.
"Oh."
Gabriel watched her.
"Henry tried to acquire it through Hearthline."
"By making me look financially corrupt."
"Yes."
"If I'd signed Derek's resignation agreement—"
"The property trust could have been challenged under the misconduct clause."
Noelle felt sick.
That had been the plan all along.
Destroy her reputation.
Force her to admit financial fraud.
Seize the trust before she turned thirty-two.
Gabriel's expression became cold.
"Derek wasn't simply stealing your charity."
"He was helping his father steal my inheritance."
Gabriel nodded.
Noelle walked toward the window.
"Then why kidnap Chloe?"
"Pressure."
"On me?"
"On Derek."
Her phone rang again.
This time a video appeared.
Chloe sat tied to a chair inside a concrete room.
Henry Pierce stood beside her.
Elegant.
Calm.
The same man Noelle had once spent Christmas dinners trying to impress.
"Noelle," he said to the camera. "You always were stubborn."
Gabriel stepped closer.
Henry continued.
"At noon tomorrow, you will sign the riverfront property transfer."
Noelle's hands tightened.
"If you don't, Chloe dies."
The video shifted.
A second chair became visible.
Someone else was tied to it.
Derek.
Noelle stared.
Henry smiled faintly.
"My son has disappointed me before."
He placed a hand on Derek's shoulder.
"This time, disappointment will be expensive."
The recording ended.
Gabriel said, "You're not signing anything."
Noelle looked at him.
"We need them alive."
"We'll get them."
"How?"
His eyes were already calculating.
But Noelle suddenly remembered something.
The concrete walls.
The faded blue stripe.
A yellow emergency sign in the background.
She had seen that room before.
Five years earlier.
During Hearthline's first winter shelter project.
May you like
Noelle turned toward Gabriel.
"I know where they are."
