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“If you’ve done your research, which I suspect you have, then I suppose you know why I would want to keep my recent contact with her a secret,” Neil said.
“It seems like there’s bad blood between Veronica and Daniel. They’re estranged.”
“Yes. Relations in the Ling family are very tense. Donald Ling, the chairman of Zelthia, is on the verge of death. The future of his assets is at stake.”
“Daniel is his only heir…”
“Right. The company and assets are to pass down the male line only, leaving nothing for Ronnie.”
“But Veronica already has a fortune. She’s a self-made businesswoman with her own successful company.”
“It pales in comparison to the chairman’s fortune. But this isn’t about money. I, and many others, strongly believe she would take the company in a more ethical direction if she were in charge instead of Daniel.”
“But what can you do?”
“Change the chairman’s mind. Ronnie and I have been trying to achieve this for some time now—behind Daniel’s back. So, it’s a problem he somehow knows I’ve met up with her. Unless he was bluffing—I couldn’t be sure.”
“Just meeting her doesn’t have to mean anything. You used to be engaged, after all.”
“True, but if Daniel catches even a whiff of what’s really going on, he has the power to make my life a living hell.”
An involuntary tremor coursed through me, goosebumps erupting on my skin. “You really believe Daniel was behind Alex’s death, don’t you?”
“I do.”
“Then what you’re doing is incredibly dangerous.”
“Yes.”
The conviction in his voice gave me chills. “You’re willing to risk your life for Veronica’s sake?”
Neil shook his head. “I’m not doing this for her sake. I’m doing it because I truly believe the world would be better off with her at the helm of Zelthia rather than her brother.”
I could accept his stance. From all I had read about Veronica Ling, she was a virtuous person—a known humanitarian and philanthropist. “You could have told me all this yesterday. I would have understood.”
“I suppose I was delaying the inevitable. You’re in the middle of this now. You know what’s going on. The future of a two-hundred-and-fifty billion dollar conglomerate is at stake.”
Before I could process the scope of Neil’s words, the wind suddenly picked up in an immense gust, which nearly knocked me off my feet. I grabbed hold of the barrier ledge to support myself, but the view I had been avoiding entered my field of vision.
The drop.
A dizzying spectacle. Twenty flights down to the hard, unforgiving pavement. A yawning abyss of concrete and steel that threatened to swallow me whole.
A vision of my father plummeting to his death flashed in my mind, accompanied by the sickening sensation of falling. My knees buckled, and my stomach lurched. I felt lightheaded and unstable. The world was spinning around me. Neil said something, but his voice was distant and muffled. It felt like I was underwater. My vision was blurry. My legs… My legs… Ah.
“MILLY!”
Chapter Thirty-Three
The earth slipped from beneath my feet. Everything went dark as I collapsed into a void.
“Milly.”
…Neil?
His voice cut through the fog in my brain. The next thing I knew, his strong arms were around me, pulling me up, holding me to his chest. I felt his body behind me, his reassuring presence anchoring me to reality as the wind swirled around us. “I’ve got you,” he said. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
His voice was so raw and earnest, I believed him in the depth of my soul.
