เข้าสู่ระบบ*Aria’s POV*Five years.It was a long time to heal, and yet, a short time to forget.I stood on the terrace of the finished mountain house. The "fortress," the world called it. But to us, it was simply home. The plastic sheeting and exposed wiring were gone, replaced by warm timber, thick glass, and walls that had finally seen peace.The wind that used to howl through the frame now whispered through the pines, a gentle sound that no longer signaled danger."Daddy, look! The tower is tall enough now."I turned. Adrian was standing in the snow, pointing to a structure of blocks on the heated patio. He was ten years old now, tall for his age, with his father’s dark hair and piercing eyes. He wore a dark coat, his posture straight, his expression serious as he assessed his creation.Lucian stood beside him, hands in his pockets, nodding approvingly."Foundation needs to be wider if you want it to withstand the wind," Lucian said.Adrian frowned, analyzing the structure. "I reinforced the
*Aria’s POV*We were leaving the mountain house, because our sanctuary had become a tomb. The blueprints Nikolai knew so well were a death sentence. Every beam, every support, every blind spot, he had memorized them during the years he stood guard over us."Pack only essentials," Lucian ordered, throwing a bag onto the bed. His movements were jerky, fueled by a cold, terrifying panic. "We take the back roads. Rylan has a secure transport waiting at the ranger station.""The snow," I said, clutching my coat. "The plows haven't been through since yesterday.""We walk if we have to."Adrian was in the panic room with the nanny, huddled under blankets. Damian was in the command center, scrubbing the servers. We were burning the Drakov legacy to ash.Lucian handed me a coat."Put this on. We leave in two minutes."I pulled the heavy wool around my shoulders. A wave of nausea rolled through me, not just the pregnancy, but the sheer terror."He's out there, isn't he?" I asked my voice waveri
*Aria’s POV*The adrenaline from the bomb threat hadn't faded. It had merely calcified into a cold, hard knot in my chest.The panic room felt less like a sanctuary and more like a tomb. I sat on the edge of the cot, my hand resting protectively over my stomach. The baby. The new life that had arrived in the middle of a siege.Lucian hadn't left the command center. He was obsessed with the "V0id_Walker" lead Damian had uncovered. He needed to know who built the bomb vest. He needed to know who was on the screens."Aria?"Damian’s voice came through the intercom. He sounded strange. Strangled."I'm here, Damian.""Come to the command center. Lucian... Lucian needs you."I didn't like his tone. It wasn't the voice of a man who had found a clue. It was the voice of a man who had found a corpse.I unlocked the door and hurried down the hall.The command center was freezing. The servers were humming, but the mood was glacial.Lucian was standing motionless in front of the main monitor. He
*Aria’s POV*The pregnancy changed the air in the mountain house.It wasn’t just joy, it was a sudden, suffocating weight of responsibility. Lucian didn't just want to survive anymore; he wanted to sterilize the world."The medical team is setting up in the west wing," Lucian said, pacing the length of our bedroom. He was dressed in tactical gear, even though we were snowed in. "They’re bringing an ultrasound machine. And a nutritionist.""Lucian, I'm pregnant, not invalid," I said, sitting up in bed. The nausea had subsided for the moment, leaving a hollow exhaustion in its wake. "And I'm only six weeks along. There isn't much to see yet.""There is a heartbeat," Lucian said, his voice dropping. "That's all I need to hear."He stopped pacing and looked at me."I’m doubling the guard. No one enters the perimeter without my personal authorization. The construction crew has been vetted three times. I’m running background checks on the pilot who flew the medical team in.""You're going t
*Aria’s POV*The nausea hit me like a tide — sudden, overwhelming, and crushing.I barely made it to the bathroom in the master suite. The cold tiles bit into my knees as I retched into the toilet. My shoulder, still healing from the bullet wound, throbbed in protest at the violent heaving of my muscles.It had been like this for three days.I gasped for air, wiping my mouth with a trembling hand."Aria?"Lucian was at the door instantly. I heard his footsteps, heavy and urgent. He knelt beside me, his hand cool against the back of my neck."Not again," he whispered."I'm fine," I rasped, though I wasn't. The room was spinning. My stomach felt like it was twisting into knots. "It’s just... something I ate.""You haven't eaten," Lucian said sharply. "You haven't kept anything down since Tuesday."He helped me to my feet, his grip tight as if he was afraid I would crumble. He guided me to the sink. I rinsed my mouth, looking at my reflection in the mirror.I looked terrible. Pale, dark
*Aria’s POV*The hunt for Carlo began before the sun breached the horizon.Lucian didn't sleep. He sat in the command center of the mountain house, surrounded by the hum of servers and the glow of monitors, coordinating a manhunt from the isolation of the peak."Pull his financials," Lucian ordered into the secure line. "Trace his cell phone pings from the last forty-eight hours. I want to know where he slept, what he ate, and who he spoke to.""We're on it, Boss," Rylan’s voice crackled back. "We're checking his apartment in the city now."My knuckles were white as I gripped the edge of the console. The voice — Carlo's voice — echoed in his head. You have no idea what I'm capable of.It made sense. Carlo had been his shadow for five years. He knew the schedules, the routes, the security codes. He had access to the penthouse. He knew about the mountain. He fit the profile perfectly."Lucian," I said softly, placing a hand on his back. "You need to eat something.""I can't.""Adrian is
*Aria’s POV*The tunnel swallowed us whole. Concrete walls, flickering orange lights. The roar of the engine echoing like we were being digested by something mechanical and merciless.I forced myself to breathe and not to panic. Matteo expects me to panic, and I will do exactly the opposite.Matteo
*Aria’s POV*The forest devoured us.Branches lashed against my bare arms. Wet leaves slapped my face. The motorcycle tore through mud and roots like it had memorized the terrain, like this escape route had been prepared long before tonight.I screamed from fury. I have had enough being a toy in th
*Aria's POV*They call it planning.As if intention changes what it is.As if wrapping something in silk and schedules and florals can make it anything other than a slow, deliberate erasure.It begins the morning after my failed escape.A knock—soft, polite, relentless.Three women enter my room wi
*Aria's POV*I don’t plan it.That’s the truth I clung to later, when pain bloomed and consequences come crashing down. I didn’t sit by the window plotting routes or counting guards like a prisoner in a storybook.I just… moved.It happened in the quiet space between heartbeats—after dinner had end






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