I found a young woman half-frozen in the park with two babies clinging to her — and when she whispered, “Please don’t let him find us,” I didn’t realize I was seconds away from a truth tied to my own past.

I asked Dr. Hayes to perform a DNA test.
Isla agreed without hesitation.

While samples were processed in my lab downstairs, she told me pieces of her story in short, fragile breaths.

Her mother had tried to leave a controlling man years ago, but fear kept her trapped. When Carolyn became sick recently, she finally told Isla the truth—about me, about our past, about wanting Isla to find safety somewhere I might still exist.

And Isla ran. She carried the twins with her because “no child deserves the world he would have given them.”

The man she spoke of wasn’t named at first. Just fear in her voice every time she said “he.”

Hours later, the DNA results printed.

And everything inside me froze.

Isla: 99.9% match
Theo & Silas: not related to me

I walked upstairs with a heart pounding harder than any business deal ever had.

But before I reached the room—

The door was open.

The window cracked.

The babies gone.

And Isla’s footprints leading outside.

CHAPTER 4: THE FEAR THAT FOLLOWED HER
I sprinted out the front entrance into the garden. Early sunlight barely cut through the fog.

“Gage! Full lockdown! Check the perimeter!”

I followed the small footprints winding toward the lower gate.

Then I saw her.

Isla stood by an old magnolia tree, clutching the babies, shaking in fear. Her hair stuck to her face, cheeks stained with tears.

“Isla!” I called gently. “What are you doing?”

She flinched. “He’s here,” she whispered. “I saw the car. I know that car.”

I turned toward the street.

A dark sedan was parked across from the property. Its engine hummed quietly. The windows were tinted black.

A man sat inside, just watching.

“Who is he, Isla?” I asked.

She swallowed hard. “His name is Ryder Vance. Mom tried to leave him. He didn’t let her. And when she… when she wasn’t here anymore… he said he’d take the twins. That they were his legacy.”

“And you ran?”

“I ran because I knew what he’d do to them.” Her voice cracked. “And what he’d do to anyone who tried to protect me.”

“Come inside,” I said firmly. “Whatever he thinks he can take—he won’t.”

“He’ll hurt you,” she whispered.

“Let me worry about that.”

I signaled to Gage. Within seconds, two security cars rolled out. The sedan down the street backed away and vanished.

Isla’s knees buckled. I caught her before she fell.

Her voice was faint. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want danger following me to you.”

I held her steady. “You’re my family. You’re not apologizing for needing safety.”

CHAPTER 5: WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT
I believed Ryder would disappear for good after seeing my security detail.

I was wrong.

Two nights later, while Isla and the twins were asleep in the guest suite, the entire mansion suddenly went dark. Every hallway. Every room. Even our backup generators stuttered.

I heard Gage’s voice over the intercom, shaky but controlled:

“Sir, the breakers were manually cut. Someone got through the gate.”

I turned to Isla and whispered, “Take the babies. Library. Panic room. Go now. Don’t come out until you hear me say your mother’s name.”

She clutched the infants to her chest and ran.

I moved toward the foyer, heart thundering.

No weapons. No violence. Just caution and the certainty that someone wanted inside.

Then I saw a figure in the dim light coming from the street lamps outside—a man forcing his way past the side entrance, trembling with rage.