[Liam’s POV]
"Liam?" Finn's voice cuts through my spiral of self-destruction, hesitant and concerned in a way that tells me he's bracing for bad news.
I turn to see him in the doorway, taking in the scene with growing horror. His eyes sweep over the abandoned belongings like he's witnessing a crime scene.
"She left everything," he says quietly.
Asher follows close behind, moving with that tense deliberation he gets when he's trying to keep his emotions from detonating. He approaches the conference table like it contains something that could shatter if he breathes wrong.
"No ID, no cards, no personal items," Asher confirms, examining her bag. "Just what we gave her. She took nothing that would connect her to this place."
"Her phone's here too." Finn picks up the device with shaking hands. "Powered off. She doesn't want to be found."
The finality of it hits me like a brick to the face. This isn't anger or hurt feelings or needing space. This is calculated erasure. She systematically removed every trace of herself from our lives, leaving behind only our gifts like returned engagement rings after a wedding that never happened.
"She's not just running scared." My voice cracked. "She's running from us. Because we promised to protect her and we didn't."
The truth tasted like ash. She'd warned us about Adelyn. Begged us to take it seriously. And we'd sent her on a business trip and called it handled.
Finn sank into a chair, running his hands through his hair. "She told us. Over and over. And we just..."
"We didn't listen," Asher finished flatly. "We thought we knew better."
The silence that followed was damning.
I pulled out my phone and dialed our legal team. They picked up on the first ring.
"Marcus? It's Liam. That photographer who ambushed the press conference — I want you to hit them with everything. Invasion of privacy, harassment, conspiracy. I want their career dead by sunrise."
"Consider it done," came the crisp reply. "What about the journalist who asked the question?"
"Find out who paid them. Then destroy them too."
While I handled legal, Asher had his laptop out, typing with focused intensity.
"Her old work email is still linked to our IT infrastructure," he muttered. "If she used any online services recently..."
His fingers paused. "Got something. Third-party car rental booking, made about an hour ago. She accessed the site through her work email login."
"What kind of car?"
"Compact sedan, one-way rental. No return date." Asher's jaw tightened. "She used Leo's name for the booking, but the credit card is hers. I have the plate number."
Even in her panic, even while her world was imploding, she was still thinking about Leo's safety first. Still protecting the people she loved while assuming no one would do the same for her.
"She doesn't want to be found," Finn said quietly.
"I know." I ran a hand through my hair. "And if she tells us to leave, we leave. But she deserves to hear us apologize first. She deserves to know we understand what we did wrong."
"And if she doesn't forgive us?" Asher asked.
The question hung in the air. I didn't have an answer.
"Send me that plate number," I said finally. "Now."
I headed toward the security department, Finn and Asher trailing behind. The head of security looked up in surprise as we came through the door.
"I need footage from every camera covering the employee parking area for the past two hours," I said. "Focus on the east exit."
"Sir, I'll need authorization—"
"I'm giving you authorization. Pull it up now."
The security team moved quickly. Multiple camera angles came up on their monitors, and we watched in tense silence as they scrolled through footage.
"There," Finn said suddenly, pointing. "That's her."
And there she was, moving fast across the employee lot, wrapped in her coat like armor. No bag, no phone, nothing to slow her down. She looked small on the grainy footage, but her movements were purposeful. Determined.
Even in her escape, she had more backbone than half the executives in this building.
"Freeze it," I ordered as she approached a gray sedan. The tech team enhanced the image, and the license plate came into focus. It matched Asher's information.
"She planned this," Finn observed, voice tight. "Look at how she avoided the main cameras. She knew exactly how to disappear."
"She knew someone would try to follow her," Asher added.
The thought of Jasmine feeling like she had to vanish from our lives — like we were something she needed to escape from rather than run to — made something crack in my chest.
"She left because she thinks we'll let her down again," I said quietly. "That we'll make promises we won't keep." I swallowed hard. "We have to prove her wrong. Not by dragging her back — by showing her we're worth trusting again."
Asher was quiet for a long moment. Then: "She trusted us. And we let her down."
Coming from him, that was a confession.
"So what's the plan?" Finn tried for lightness, but his voice cracked. "Because I'm not great at the whole 'groveling for forgiveness' thing, but I'll learn. For her, I'll learn."
"The rental car company will have GPS tracking," I said. "We find the car, we find her."
"And then what?" Finn asked.
"Then we tell her the truth. That we fucked up. That we should have listened. That she was right about Adelyn and we were too arrogant to see it." I paused. "And then we ask if she'll let us try again."
"What if she says no?"
The question cut deep. I thought about the broken woman who fled that bathroom. The abandoned gifts on our conference table. The systematic way she'd erased herself from our lives.
"Then we respect that," I said, and the words nearly killed me. "But I'm not letting her think she's alone in this. Not when we caused it."
Asher nodded once.
No confident declarations. No pretending we deserved her forgiveness. Just three men who'd finally realized what they'd lost — and would do anything to earn the right to be part of her life again.
"She saved Leo's life by getting involved with us," I said quietly as we headed for the door. "Now it's our turn to prove we're worth the risk she took."
Asher cracks his knuckles with a dangerous smile. "Time to bring our girl home."