Under the Heiress' Facade novel Chapter 259

As evening approached, Bernard used satellite surveillance to scan half the mountain. Eventually, he found Hera's jacket deep in the forest.

Bernard descended from the helicopter and notified Aaron of its location. The group then swiftly mobilized, combing the area surrounding where the jacket was found.

As darkness fell, Bernard's expression grew increasingly grim. He was clutching Hera's jacket so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

Aaron, who had been on more than a dozen S-class missions with Bernard, had never seen him this tense.

He tried reassuring Bernard, saying, "Don't worry too much. Hera will be fine. She grew up in the mountains and knows how to handle herself out here."

"Yeah," Bernard replied.

He then instructed Douglas through the earpiece, "Bring some searchlights," before returning to the helicopter to resume searching through the surveillance.

Night fell, and Nathan finally uncovered traces of Hera in a thicket half a mile away. There were freshly broken branches, snagged wool fibers, and bloodstains on the leaves.

After pushing through the bushes, they found an opening with signs of something that slid down the grass.

"Mr. Killian, Captain Ludden, over here!" Nathan called out to Bernard and the others.

Bernard set aside his laptop and joined Aaron at the scene.

Nathan explained the clues he found.

"It looks like Hera fell in here. No wonder we couldn't find her."

Bernard still held onto Hera's jacket with a stoic face, betraying none of the turmoil he felt. Yet, the tension around him was palpable.