Chapter 34 - Vanishing in the Rockies
The safehouse sat perched on a sheer granite cliff eight thousand feet above the Aspen valley.
It was an old logging cabin purchased under Daniel’s college alias, completely disconnected from the Van Allen corporate registry.
The heavy pine logs smelled of smoke and winter frost, providing an isolated shelter from the gathering storm outside.
Emily sat wrapped in a thick wool blanket near the stone fireplace, sipping hot herbal tea.
The purple contusions along her scalp, where Victoria had ripped her bridal veil, were finally beginning to heal into pale red marks.
Daniel stood by the wide bay window, peering through military-grade night-vision binoculars into the pitch-black woods.
"You haven't slept in forty-eight hours, Daniel," Emily said gently, setting her mug onto the wooden table.
"I sleep when Arthur is behind bars or six feet under," Daniel replied, lowering the optic.
Emily stood up, walking across the rustic floorboards and wrapping her arms around his waist from behind.
Her warmth grounded him, chasing away the cold adrenaline that had kept him upright for two days straight.
"Look at me," she whispered, turning him around to face her.
Daniel looked down into her deep hazel eyes, seeing neither fear nor resentment, only fierce devotion.
"You threw away an entire dynasty at that altar for me," Emily said softly, touching the side of his bruised cheek. "You hit your own mother to defend my dignity."
"I would have burned the entire cathedral to ash before letting anyone hurt you," Daniel answered, his voice thick with emotion.
"Then trust me now," Emily urged, placing her hand over his pounding heart. "We don't need a hundred million dollars to be happy. We can disappear."
Daniel shook his head slowly, his jaw set in stubborn defiance.
"It's not about the money, Emily," Daniel said. "Arthur murdered my father. I know it in my soul now."
Emily stared at him, her breath hitching in her throat.
"Your father died of a heart attack ten years ago," she murmured.
"That's what the private coroner claimed," Daniel said, pulling a tiny encrypted thumb drive from his pocket. "Marcus pulled this from the backup drive in Manhattan before Arthur fried the servers."
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"What is on that drive?" Emily asked, staring at the black piece of plastic.
"The autopsies Arthur paid to bury," Daniel answered grimly. "And the blueprints for our execution."
