A Woman Worth Billions Dated the Wrong Brother novel Chapter 356

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Open ocean

Amber POV

We waited.

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That was possibly the hardest part.

After three days trapped underground listening to a category-five hurricane tear the island apart, knowing that helicopters were finally coming for us made every minute feel like an hour.

Still, Mr. Stait had been very clear.

Do not move until thirty minutes before extraction.

So we didn’t.

Everyone packed quietly.

Nothing unnecessary came with us.

Water.

Medical supplies.

Weapons.

The evidence we had collected.

Alexander’s recordings from the beach.

Anything that could prove what had actually happened on the island.

When my timer finally reached thirty minutes, I stood.

“Time.”1

Nobody needed to be told twice.

Jasmine went first.

She opened the emergency exit Jason had discovered and disappeared into the narrow passage.

Héctor followed.

Then Noah.

One by one, we moved.

I kept Mr. Stait on the phone until we reached the exit.

The sunlight almost hurt my eyes after three days underground.

The island looked completely different.

Trees had been ripped from the ground.

Branches covered everything.

Entire sections of jungle were flattened.

1/8

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In the distance, smoke still rose from what remained of several command centers.

Nwallowed.

“Mr. Stait, we’re outside.”

“Good. Put me on with Emory.”

I handed him the phone.

Emory immediately switched to military mode.

“Stait.”

“Listen carefully,” Mr. Stait said through the speaker. “You’re going up the mountain. There will be three helicopter fleets.”

Everyone listened.

“The first fleet will head directly toward the beach.”

“Decoys?” Emory asked. 1

“Partially.”

I frowned.

Partially wasn’t a word I particularly enjoyed hearing during an evacuation.

“The second fleet will head east. Every helicopter will pass over your location before separating.’

“And the third?” Emory asked.

“The third fleet is yours.”

That got everyone’s attention.

“They’ll approach from the south, pass over the ridge and descend directly onto the extraction zone. You will have very little time.”

“How little?”

“Minutes.”

Jasmine grinned.

“Plenty.”

Of course she thought that.

We started climbing.

Nobody complained.

Not the injured.

Not the exhausted soldiers.

Not the women who had spent God knew how long trapped on this island.

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Not even Oliver.

Everyone knew what was waiting if we failed.

We reached the extraction point with minutes to spare.

Then we heard then.

Helicopters.

Dozens.

The first fleet appeared over the ocean.

Everyone instinctively ducked.

They flew directly above us before continuing toward the beach.

Nothing happened.

“Fleet One clear,” Emory said.

Mr. Stait answered through the phone.

“Confirmed.”

A minute later, the second formation appeared.

They crossed over our position and separated toward the eastern side of the island.

I watched them disappear.

Ten seconds.

Twenty.

Thirty.

Then-

BOOM.

The eastern side of the island erupted.

A massive explosion sent smoke and debris into the sky.

Several people dropped instinctively.

“What the hell was that?” Franklin shouted.

Emory grabbed the phone.

“Stait!”

“We saw it!”

Another explosion followed.

Smaller.

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3/8

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Farther away.

Jason grabbed my arm and pulled me closer.

“They thought we were there.”

My stomach turned.

The island owner.

If he believed the survivors were hiding somewhere east, then he had just tried to eliminate everyone before the helicopters could reach them.

Jasmine stared toward the smoke.

“That wasn’t part of the game.”

“No,” I whispered.

It was attempted murder.

Again.

Then another sound filled the sky.

Helicopters.

Our helicopters.

The third fleet.

“Positions!” Emory shouted.

Everything changed instantly.

Nobody panicked.

Nobody argued.

The teams separated exactly as instructed.

The helicopters descended almost simultaneously.

The moment the first one touched the ground, the doors opened.

“GO!”

Chaos became coordination.

River City moved toward the first helicopter.

Sum toward another.

Cloud Country and Snake City split between two more.

Lake View moved together.

Starlight followed.

Nobody stopped.

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Nobody looked back.

Less than a minute.

That was all it took.

People climbed inside with military precision.

Then came the women.

I watched one of them hesitate when she reached the helicopter.

She stared inside.

Then back toward the island.

As if she couldn’t believe she was actually allowed to leave.

“Go!” Emory shouted.

That broke whatever spell held her.

She climbed inside.

The others followed immediately.

Oliver was last.

The boy practically threw himself into the helicopter.

He didn’t need anyone to tell him twice.

None of them did.

They moved with the desperation of people terrified that the doors might close before they reached them.

Less than a minute later, all seven were aboard.

I climbed into our helicopter with Jason directly behind me.

The door slammed shut.

“Clear!”

The helicopter lifted immediately.

My stomach dropped as the ground disappeared beneath us.

Jason grabbed my hand.

I squeezed his so hard that I probably hurt him.

Neither of us cared.

Then I looked across the cabin.

And froze.

Mr. Stait was sitting there.

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5/8

Open ocean

Beside him was Greg Peterson, Sum’s Secretary of Defense. 1

ou came personally?” I shouted over the engines.

Mr. Stait gave me a tired smile.

“Did you genuinely think I was trusting someone else with this?”

Peterson looked out the window toward the island.

Another explosion erupted in the distance.

“Everyone accounted for?”

A soldier checked his tablet.

“All extraction helicopters confirm passengers aboard.”

Nobody celebrated yet.

Not until we were farther away.

Not until that island disappeared behind us.

Jason wrapped an arm around me.