bChapter /bb236 /b

    “But how did they find out?”

    “Beats me,” Mia said, her voice sharp but shaking. “They didn’t sound like they were guessing, Ethan. They sounded like they knew. Like they were sure of it.”

    Her hands trembled as she pushed her hair back, but her eyes burned with the memory of Esther and Jullian’s knowing stares.

    That look had not been a mistake or a random suspicion. It was certainty, and certainty was far more dangerous.

    Whether they liked it or not, they would always be ckwells…

    scheming, calcting, never stopping until they got what they wanted.

    Locking her in that office earlier, refusing to let her leave, was proof enough that they would go to any length if things didn’t go their way.

    That moment reyed in her head, a reminder that she couldn’t afford to wait until it was toote.

    Mia shook her head.

    “I have to leave, Ethan. I know you mean well. I know you want the best for us. But I can’t stay here anymore. I won’t.”

    “Mia, don’t you think it’s more risky leaving-”

    “Ethan-” Mia cut him off.

    “No, just listen…” Ethan moved closer, his eyes locked on hers, pleading with her to hear him out. “If this gets out, if Charles ckwell gets to know, don’t you think it’ll be safer for you here? Alex is the only one who can protect him, Mia. He’s powerful, and he’s well–connected in this country. Nobody else can keep Aiden safe like he can.”

    Mia’s chest tightened, her jaw clench….

    “Yeah,” she bit out, “and Charles ckwell was still about to harm his mother under his

    watch.”

    “Because she trusted the wrong person for a business deal,” Ethan argued, his voice steady but desperate. “That’s not the same thing. He won’t make that mistake with his own son. Alex will protect him, Mia.”

    10 vouchers

    “I don’t need him to protect him!” Mia snapped, her hands balling into fistsb. /b“Aiden has bbeen /bdoing fine without him. All this danger can be avoided if he doesn’t know about him. That’s the point! If Alex never knows, there’s no need for protection. There’s no need for any of this

    mess.”

    Her words cracked halfway, but she forced herself to stand firm.

    Ethan’s expression didn’t falter. He leaned closer, lowering his voice. “I get you Mia, I do, but I think it’s toote. They know about Aiden already. Alex will find out soon enough. And when he does, they’ll do everything….everything…to find you. Running won’t stop it. Hiding won’t make them stop and pretend the boy doesn’t exist”

    Mia shook her head over and over, almost as if the motion itself could shake away his words.

    Her brother was making sense. Every part of her knew that he was speaking logic, but her heart rebelled against it. She didn’t know how to just ept it. Her whole body screamed one thing…run.

    Running was the only thing that made sense to her. Running was how she had survived.

    Being safe to Mia meant distance. It meant oceans between her and them. It meant disappearing before they could close their fists around her son.

    She could still see Esther’s calcting eyes in her head…. Esther ckwell looked like someone who would go to any length to get Aiden.

    Mia knew she didn’t stand a chance if she stayed here.

    Her voice broke as she whispered, “I can’t. I can’t stay, Ethan.”

    Ethan pressed his lips together.

    “No need to rush, Mia,” he said quietly. “Just… let things y out. Don’t do anything reckless. Let Alex meet his son.”

    Her stomach twisted violently at his words. She shook her head again, forcefully this time.

    “No.”

    “Mia-” Ethan tried again, his tone thick with worry.

    “No.”

    Jullian has been sitting in front of Mia’s house for almost an hour now.

    bHis /bcar engine was off, the windows rolled down just enough for air. His eyes kept flicking bbetween /bthe front door and the street

    The others were parked in different positions on the streets so as not to raise suspicion.

    Patience wasn’t usually his strength, but here he was, parked in silence, watching.

    They had followed her earlier to Aiden’s school.

    He was ashamed to admit it, but that was not the first time he had been there to the boy’s school to see him.

    The first time was after his mother showed him those pictures… And then the DNA test…

    That had been the crack that split everything open. He had gone to the school, just to see. To see if it was true. To see if a boy that supposedly shared ckwell blood even looked the part.

    It had been easier for him to move around because of Alex. Years ago, his brother had coborated with that school when he released that children’s game, a partnership that still stood strong.

    open door,

    The school always weed ckwells with open arms. And Jullian used that slipping in with the excuse of checking on the ce his family put money into every year.

    But the truth? He was stalking a boy.

    And then he had seen him.

    The boy had been on the yground,ughing, running with his friends.

    Jullian had frozen on the spot.

    Because no picture could ever prepare him for how much that boy looked like Alex.

    It was insane. The same eyes, the same crooked half–smile, even the way he carried himself….it was all Alex. It was like looking at a ghost of his brother’s childhood.

    Jullian remembered the moment the boy had noticed him staring.

    Aiden had tilted his head, curious, almost cautious, his little hand still clutching the toy car he

    had been ying with. Their eyes had locked for just a second too long.

    Jullian’s pulse had jumped. He didn’t want to look like some creep hanging around a schoolyard, so he forced a smile.

    And the boy… smiled back.

    That smile had floored him. It wasn’t just a smile…it was Alex. It was every bit of bAlexander /bckwell, alive in a three–year–old boy who had no idea who he truly was.

    Holy crap.

    That was the exact moment Jullian stopped denying the truth.

    The school director had caught him staring too, and maybe to fill the silence, she had said lightly, “Oh, that’s Aiden. He just joined us. Very brilliant kid.”

    And all Jullian could do was nod, because his mouth had gone dry and his heart had been pounding out of his chest.

    Now, he was sitting outside her house just waiting for Mia to make a move, to pack up and run with his brother’s son.

    That’s definitely what she was thinking. He could almost see it in her eyes back at the office. The panic and the fear.

    As much as they didn’t want to scare her. They weren’t going to let her slip through their fingers with their blood.

    A son his mom believes will make Alex smile more,and make him more fulfilled? A child his mom believes will bring light and happiness into their life?

    Jullian tapped his fingers on his legs restlessly, eyes still fixed on that door.

    And then a movement caught his eye.

    He straightened instantly.

    The front door opened, and a figure came rushing out. A girl, holding Aiden tight against her

    chest.

    Jullian’s eyes narrow at the figure.

    That wasn’t Mia.

    It was her sister.

    He watched closely, trying to make sense of what was happening….

    Where the hell was she going with the boy?

    Aiden’s small arms were around her neck, his head resting against her shoulder.

    The urgency in the girl’s steps set Jullian’s pulse racing.

    Something wasn’t right.

    “Follow her,” he ordered sharply.