My Great Escape Led Me to You (Emily Blair) novel Chapter 1289

Tristan Davis let his arms drop to his sides, his whole body sagging as he squeezed his eyes shut.

Elizabeth Wilson stood frozen, her voice barely more than a whisper. “Why is this happening…”

The whole room felt like it was holding its breath. A heavy silence pressed down on everyone, thick with dread. A few men nearby, unable to take it anymore, turned away and buried themselves in their computer screens.

Then, the sharp sound of a slap snapped their attention back. They turned, just in time to see Elizabeth clutching Tristan’s arm, tears streaming down her face.

“Tristan Davis, what are you doing?” she cried.

Tristan’s voice was hoarse. “I’m so useless…”

The men gaped at him, eyes wide, as they spotted the angry red handprint on his cheek.

Did… did he just hit himself?

How hard did he have to slap himself to leave a mark like that?

Tristan kept his eyes closed and let out a shaky breath. “You don’t have to hold me.”

Elizabeth held on tighter, her voice anxious. “If I let go, what if you do it again?”

He shook his head, turned away, and pulled his arm free. Elizabeth hovered beside him, worried and unsure, but after a few minutes without another outburst, she finally stepped back and returned to her spot.

She kept glancing over at Tristan, making sure he was okay, before finally pulling out her phone to answer Rose Ward.

Rose: What’s going on?

Elizabeth’s fingers hesitated over the screen, her expression tangled with worry. She bit her lip.

The kidnapper found out you were talking to the police. Don’t contact them again for now, okay?

Rose’s reply came fast. What? But the cop promised they wouldn’t find out! She even gave me a special phone and everything, said it was totally safe.

Elizabeth remembered the photo they’d gotten earlier, the one clearly taken from somewhere high up. It was late, the streets were dark. No wonder the police missed the lookout.

None of this was Rose’s fault. It wasn’t the police’s, either. They’d just been doing what they thought was right.

No one here was to blame. Only the kidnapper.

If anyone deserved to suffer, it was the one who started all this.

But it was Emily Blair who was paying the price.

Elizabeth typed out some words to comfort Rose, going back and forth until Rose finally calmed down a little. When she set her phone aside, a hollow ache settled in her chest.

She’d managed to help Rose, but who was going to help her? Who would help Tristan?

Elizabeth stared into space, her mind blank and numb. She didn’t dare let herself think, because if she did, she’d see Emily’s face from that first video all over again.

Benjamin Gomez had said he’d deal with Emily himself. Right now, he was probably…

He looked down at Emily, slumped on the ground, barely able to move.

Her arm was wrapped in a dirty strip of cloth, blood still seeping out and turning the earth beneath her bright red. Her face was gray with blood loss, her mouth sealed shut with duct tape, eyes half-lidded from exhaustion. But she stared right at Benjamin, steady and fearless.

Benjamin stared back, his mouth twisting into a mocking smile.

So what if they cared about her?

She was still his prisoner.

He crouched down, holding his phone out for her to see. “Look. I can make them do whatever I want. I told them to kneel, and they did. Sent me the video, too. Want to see?”

“This is Andrew Lane. You see him? Probably never knelt for any woman in his life. But for you, he did. Doesn’t that move you?”

Emily’s gaze flicked to the screen. Andrew, in his perfectly tailored suit, was kneeling ramrod straight, proud even in humiliation. He looked nothing like a man who was giving in.

Her eyes shifted back to Benjamin.

He was still smiling, but there was something twisted and cold behind it.

“Not even a flinch, huh? Guess Andrew Lane doesn’t matter to you. How about this one?”

He tapped his phone and brought up another video. “This is Tristan Davis. Your boyfriend. This one gets to you, right?”

Emily looked at the video of Tristan, kneeling on the ground. Her expression didn’t change at all.