Chapter 4 Welcome Home, Miss Carrington

Nina’s pov

I didn't look back. Not even once.

As I walked down the long, winding driveway of the Knight mansion, the heavy iron gates clicked shut behind me with a sound that felt entirely permanent. In one hand, I tightly clutched Grandfather’s crumpled letter; my other hand rested instinctively, protectively, over my stomach.

I've got you, I thought, sending a silent promise down to the tiny life growing inside me. It’s just you and me now, my sweet baby. But I swear, I will protect you with everything I have.

I was completely homeless, without a single dollar to my name because I had left Damian's fifteen-million-dollar check on his bed. My chest tightening with nerves, I pulled out my phone and looked down at the ten-digit number Grandfather had scribbled at the bottom of the page. With trembling fingers, I pressed call and lifted the phone to my ear. It only rang twice before a deep, incredibly professional voice answered.

"Carrington Enterprises. CEO's Office. How may I assist you?"

I swallowed hard, my voice shaking over the roar of the wind. "Um, hello. My name is Nina. I... I was given this number by Arthur Knight. Damian's grandfather. He told me to call it before he passed away."

There was a sudden, sharp, audible intake of breath on the other end of the line. The casual professionalism instantly vanished, replaced by an intense, dead-serious, authoritative tone. "Did you say your name is Nina?"

"Yes," I whispered, utterly confused.

"Miss Nina... I need you to answer me very carefully," the man said, his voice dropping an octave, thick with sudden tension. "Do you happen to be wearing a silver necklace? A tarnished one, with a small blue sapphire pendant?"

I froze on the rainy sidewalk, my heart leaping violently into my throat. My fingers flew up to my collarbone, gripping the cold metal of the necklace I had worn every single day since I was a toddler. "Yes. Yes, I am. How could you possibly know that?"

The line went completely dead silent for three agonizing seconds. When the man spoke again, his voice was thick with raw emotion, entirely unraveled. "Please. Wherever you are right now, do not move. Just stay exactly where you are. Someone is coming for you right now."

Before I could even open my mouth to ask a single question, the call disconnected.

I stood on the curb, my mind racing in a million different directions, shielding my stomach from the wind. Exactly twenty minutes later, the roar of heavy, powerful engines echoed down the street. Three sleek, jet-black luxury SUVs pulled up to the curb, packing the space right in front of me. The doors flew open, and half a dozen massive men in tailored suits stepped out.

Passersby stopped and stared, whispering to one another in shock. One of the men, clearly the leader, stepped forward and stopped a respectful distance away from me. He bowed his head deeply.

"Miss Nina?"

I hesitantly nodded, swallowing a lump of fear. "Yes?"

"We are from Carrington enterprises, Please, come with us. You're completely safe now," he said, gesturing toward the open door of the middle SUV.

I didn't know why, but a strange, overwhelming sense of peace washed over me, completely overriding my fear. I got into the back seat. The drive through the city was a blur, ending only when the convoy pulled into the private underground garage of the Carrington Headquarters—the tallest, most intimidating glass skyscraper in the entire country.

The moment I stepped out of the car, every single high-level executive and employee we passed stopped what they were doing and bowed deeply to me. I felt incredibly small and entirely out of place in my simple, worn-out, damp clothes that clung to my plus-size figure. I braced myself for the usual snickers or judgmental looks I always received from the Knight family, but there was only profound, absolute respect in their eyes.

The security guards escorted me straight to a private, gold-rimmed elevator. It shot up to the executive penthouse floor in seconds. When the doors smoothly slid open, my breath hitched.

Two incredibly handsome, powerful-looking men were standing in the middle of the massive, luxurious office. The older one, dressed in a flawless charcoal suit, was visibly gripping the edge of a mahogany desk, trying desperately to maintain his composure. The younger one, who looked to be in his mid-twenties, already had bright red, tear-filled eyes, looking seconds away from a total emotional breakdown.

Neither of them spoke. For a long, heavy moment, we just stared at each other.

Then, the older brother slowly walked toward me, his heavy footsteps echoing on the polished hardwood. His eyes immediately locked onto the tarnished silver necklace resting against my collarbone. He stopped right in front of me, his hands shaking violently as he gently reached out, his thumb brushing the hair away from the skin just behind my left ear.

He was looking for the tiny, crescent-shaped birthmark I had hidden there.

The moment his thumb brushed against it, his entire body trembled. A heavy tear spilled over his dark lashes, and his voice broke into a thousand pieces. "Little... sister?"