I Married My Ex's Billionaire Father-Chapter 337: Ivory Tower

"Where are we going?" A panicked Lyse asked.

Levi glanced back at her before concentrating on the road.

"I have to get you somewhere safe." He said, but he knew he could not keep her safe, not even at the most secure building in the city.

He wanted to be by her side but he also wanted to be able to concentrate on what he had to do and he knew he could not do that with her next to him, he also did not want her to hear what he was about to do.

"Take her to the penthouse," he said to the driver, before turning to look at her.

"I need to do something, I will meet you there."

Before she could protest, he had opened the door and stepped out of the moving car onto the street, rolling gracefully to his feet. The car didn’t even slow down.

He stood there for a moment, watching the taillights disappear around a corner, a lone figure against the city’s indifferent grey. Then he pulled out his phone, his knuckles white.

"Rex," he said, his voice devoid of all emotion. "She took a child. A little girl. Name’s Lily."

There was a stunned silence on the other end.

"Find her," Levi continued, each word a shard of ice. "I don’t care what it takes. Find that car. Tap every camera, rattle every source, turn this city upside down. I want a location, and I want it ten minutes ago."

He hung up and dialed another number. It rang twice.

"It’s me," he said. "She has the girl. Ophelia."

A woman’s voice answered, sharp and efficient. "Understood. The package is secure, Levi."

The words were meant to be reassuring, but they did nothing to quell the storm raging inside him. Lyse was not a package. She was the center of his world.

"I need eyes on the penthouse. Full lockdown. No one gets in or out without my say-so."

"Already done," the woman replied. "And the other matter?"

Levi’s jaw tightened. The other matter. Brandon. The brat who did not know when to give up.

He had been silent so far but Levi knew it was foolish to discound him.

Who knew what hell he was holed in plotting all kinds of nefarious distractions to pull him and Lyse apart.

He could not afford to take a risk and let Brandon get a chance.

"Keep the pressure on," he said. "I want to know the second he even thinks about breathing in our direction."

"Will do."

He ended the call and stood for a long moment, the city’s noise a dull roar in his ears. He felt a phantom weight in his palm—the squashed dandelion. A child’s simple gift, now a symbol of everything he’d failed to protect.

A sleek, black SUV pulled up to the curb, silent as a shadow. The rear door swung open.

"Levi," Rex said from the driver’s seat, his face grim. "We have something."

Levi slid into the passenger seat, the door closing with a heavy thud. "Talk."

"The stolen sedan. We got a hit on a traffic cam five blocks from the shelter. It was moving fast, headed west. Then... it vanished."

"Vanished how?" Levi’s voice was dangerously low.

"There’s a network of old service tunnels under this part of the city. Abandoned subway lines, maintenance shafts. There’s an entrance near where the car was last seen. We think they went underground."

Levi’s mind raced, a chaotic map of the city’s underbelly flashing before him. A labyrinth of concrete and steel, perfect for vanishing.

"Get me a schematic," he commanded. "All access points, all known exits. And get a team to every one of them. Now."

"On it," Rex said, tapping furiously at a tablet.

Levi stared out the window, the buildings blurring into meaningless shapes. He was a man who controlled his world with an iron fist. He built empires, crushed enemies, dictated outcomes. But down there, in the dark with a psychopath and a little girl, he was blind. Powerless.

And that was a feeling he would not tolerate.

His phone buzzed again. This time, it was a text from an unknown number.

A single image. A video file.

He pressed play.

The screen was dark for a moment, then shaky cell phone footage filled it. A small, dimly lit room. Concrete walls. And in the corner, huddled on a thin mattress, was Lily. She was crying, her small body wracked with sobs.

Then, a figure moved into the frame. It wasn’t Ophelia. It was a man, tall and broad, wearing a balaclava that covered his entire face except for his eyes. Cold, dead eyes.

The man knelt down beside the crying child. He didn’t speak. He simply reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, pink teddy bear. He held it out to Lily.

She flinched away, sobbing harder.

The man’s movements were unnervingly gentle. He placed the teddy bear on the mattress beside her, then retreated into the shadows of the room.

The video ended.

Levi’s blood ran cold. This wasn’t about a trade. This was about torture. The slow, psychological destruction of everyone he cared about. They were showing him they could touch her, that they were close, that they held a life in their hands. It was a message.

Rex’s phone buzzed. He glanced at it, then back at Levi. "We have her phone. Ophelia’s. She ditched it two blocks from the tunnel entrance."

"So she’s deep in the rat’s nest with the girl," Levi murmured, his mind working furiously. "She knows we’re coming. She’s waiting."

He scrolled back to the image of the crying child, zooming in on the corner of the frame. On the dusty concrete floor, barely visible, was a small scuff mark. A circular pattern. He’d seen it before.

"The old textile factory," he said, the words leaving no room for doubt. "Basement level four. The emergency generator room."

Rex stared at him. "How can you possibly know that?"

"Because I had the building renovated three years ago. The contractor used a specific type of concrete sealant in the basement. It leaves that exact scuff pattern when wet. And the factory sits directly above the nexus of three main service tunnels. It’s the perfect hideout."

A flicker of admiration crossed Rex’s face before it was replaced by grim determination. "That’s a fortress, Levi. The old ventilation shafts are sealed. The main entrances are blast doors. We can’t just storm it."

"We’re not storming anything," Levi said, his voice flat, cold. "I’m going in alone."

*****

The penthouse was silent.

Lyse stood in the center of the vast living room, the floor-to-ceiling windows offering a panoramic view of a city that suddenly seemed menacing and alien. The air was cold, sterile, smelling of lemon polish and money. It was a cage, albeit a gilded one.

Two of Levi’s guards stood by the door, their stances rigid, their faces impassive.

Then her phone rang loudly, breaking the silence and startling her. The caller ID was blocked. She knew even before she answered.

She let it ring a few times before slowly raising the device to her ear. "Hello?"

"Oh, good, you answered," Ophelia’s voice purred, a silken thread of malice. "I was worried you were too busy cowering in that little ivory tower to take my call."