Chapter 7 - The Shattered Pane
I didn't think. I didn't hesitate. I shoved past Adrian, scrambled up the exterior wooden stairs of the bakery two at a time, and threw myself against the back door. It was unlocked—Miller must have come back up.
I burst into the apartment, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. "Maya! Leo!"
The kitchen was empty, but the faint smell of ozone and shattered glass drifted from the front sitting room. I sprinted down the narrow hallway, my bare feet hitting the floorboards with frantic slaps.
Maya was huddled under the dining table, her small hands clamped over her ears, crying softly. Leo stood a few feet away, frozen in place, staring wide-eyed at the front window.
A heavy, jagged hole had been punched right through the center of the frosted glass pane. Lying on the braided rug, right beside the wooden spoons, was a heavy river stone wrapped tightly in a piece of hotel stationery.
Adrian burst through the doorway seconds behind me, his eyes scanning the room in a fraction of a second before locking onto the broken window. He didn't say a word. He crossed the room in three long strides, dropped to one knee, and picked up the stone, carefully unwrapping the paper.
I pulled Maya out from under the table, crushing her into my chest, rocking her back and forth while Leo silently walked over and buried his face in my coat.
"Clara," Adrian said, his voice dangerously quiet as he stared at the note.
"What does it say?" I demanded, my voice shaking with a mixture of terror and white-hot rage.
Adrian looked up, his amber eyes burning with a dark, lethal fire. "It’s not from Celeste."
I frowned, stepping closer, keeping the children shielded behind my hip. "If it's not Celeste, then who?"
"It’s from my father’s old security syndicate," Adrian said, standing up slowly, the paper trembling slightly in his grip. "Someone inside my former corporate network has been tracking my movements since I left Chicago this morning. They know about you. They know about the twins."
The room seemed to shrink, the walls closing in as the horrifying truth settled over us. It wasn't just a bitter sister seeking a personal vendetta anymore. The ruthless, untouchable machinery of the Vale empire had found my children, and to them, an unknown heir was either a vulnerability to be eliminated or a leverage asset to be controlled.
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"They're coming for us," I whispered.
"Not while I'm breathing," Adrian replied, his voice absolute. He holstered his hidden shoulder holster, pulled out his phone, and dialed a direct, encrypted satellite frequency. "Marcus? Get the armored transport to the back alley of Miller’s Bakery in five minutes. And bring the extraction team. We're heading off the grid."
