My husband stood in our marble kitchen laughing while his mistress called me a washed-up old maid, completely certain I had no money, no family, and nowhere left to run.

I called my father as I ran for the elevator.

“He has her,” I gasped. “Derek has Lily. He’s at the estate. He just took her—”

My father didn’t say a word.

The line went dead.

By the time I reached the lobby, Mr. Hale was already waiting with the car. The engine was running, the tires smoking as we peeled out of the hotel driveway. We did ninety down Monument Avenue, running red lights, sirens wailing from the police cars my father had called.

I called Lily’s watch.

It went straight to voicemail.

Derek had turned it off.

We reached the estate twelve minutes later.

The front gates hung open, ripped clean off their hinges by Derek’s truck. The front door stood wide open. My father was already there, standing on the porch with three of his security men, his face like granite.

“Her window is open,” he said, not looking at me. “He climbed up the trellis. The nanny is unconscious in the hallway—he hit her. She’ll be okay. The police are inside processing the scene.”

I pushed past him and ran up the stairs.

Lily’s bedroom was exactly as he’d described.

Her favorite unicorn sheets were thrown back. Her teddy bear lay on the floor where she’d dropped it. The window was wide open, the cool night air blowing the curtains.

And on her pillow…

A single white rose.

Derek’s calling card.

He’d left it the day he proposed. He’d left it on our first anniversary. He’d left it the night he’d asked me to marry him.

Now he’d left it when he kidnapped our daughter.

I sank down onto the bed and picked it up.

The thorns were still sharp.

“Elara.”

Sarah was in the doorway, her face pale. She’d driven out the moment she’d heard.

“The police have put out an AMBER Alert. Every highway patrol officer in three states is looking for him. They’ve got his plate number, his description. They’ll find him.”

“Will they?” I whispered. “Derek knows every back road in Virginia. He grew up out here. He knows places the police don’t even know exist. He could be in West Virginia by now. Or North Carolina. Or—”

“Elara.” My father walked in. He held out his phone. “He called again.”

I took the phone.

“Put him on speaker.”

My father pressed the button.

Derek’s voice filled the room.

“—beautiful here, baby girl. Look at the lake. Remember when we came here last summer? You caught that big fish?”

Lily’s voice, small and confused: “Daddy, I want Mommy.”

“Mommy’s busy, honey. She doesn’t have time for us anymore. Remember? She kicked Daddy out. She said Daddy was bad. But Daddy’s not bad. Daddy loves you more than anything in the whole world.”

“Derek,” I said.

There was a pause.

“Elara,” he said. “I was wondering when you’d get on the line.”

“Let her go, Derek. Please. Whatever you want—money, the company, my car, my jewelry, anything—just let her come home.”

“I don’t want your money, Elara. I don’t want your company. I want my life back. The life you stole from me.”

He paused. I heard water lapping in the background. The lake house. He’d taken her to the lake house.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” he said. “You are going to call a press conference tomorrow morning. You are going to tell the whole world that you lied. That you made up the abuse. That you stole the company. That Sloane lied. You are going to give me back everything. Every share, every dollar, every building. And then… you are going to drop the divorce. You are going to come home. You are going to be my wife again. And you are never, ever going to cross me again.”

“And if I don’t?”

Silence.

Then, very quietly: “Then Lily and I are going to take a long boat ride. And the lake is very deep this time of year. And the police… well, they might never find us.”

I looked at my father.

His eyes were wide. He mouthed the words: LAKE HOUSE.

Mr. Hale was already on his radio, sending his men.

“Derek,” I said, keeping my voice as steady as I could. “That’s a lot to do in one morning. I need time. The lawyers have to draw up the papers—”

“You have until nine a.m. If I don’t see you say those words on live television by nine… I’m taking her out on the water. And you will never see your daughter again.”

The line went dead.

Sarah looked at me.

“The lake house is two hours from here,” she said. “If we leave now—”

“No.” My father shook his head. “If we rush in, he’ll panic. He’ll kill her. We have to play along. Just for a little while. Elara… you’re going to have to do the press conference.”

I stared at him.

“You want me to get on TV and tell the whole world I lied? That I’m a liar and a thief and I abused myself?”

“Only for a few minutes,” he said. “Just long enough to keep him on the phone. Long enough for my men to get into position. Once they have eyes on Lily, we take him down.”

He knelt in front of me.

“I know it’s a lot to ask, baby. I know it will humiliate you. But Lily’s life is worth more than your reputation. Isn’t it?”

I looked at the white rose in my hand.

I thought of my daughter.

Scared.

Confused.