LOGINHello babies... I hope you're enjoying this book. Please let me know your thoughts. I love hearing from you.😉😉😻😻💜💜
Clara stood in the center of the Lockwood mansion with her arms wrapped tightly around herself, staring at the empty staircase as though Emily and Sophie might suddenly come running down it, laughing and calling for her. The house had never felt so enormous or so painfully quiet. Only a few hours ago, the children had been running through the halls, arguing over toys and demanding snacks, while Lucas had complained about them making too much noise. Now their laughter was gone, replaced by the hurried footsteps of security personnel and the clipped voices of men receiving orders through their radios. Clara could still hear Emily and Sophie's voices in her head, still feel the tiny arms that had wrapped around her waist that morning, and the thought that those same little arms were now in the hands of strangers made something inside her ache violently. Jade stood several feet away, speaking to one of his security chiefs, but his attention wasn't really on the man's report. E
Jade reached the children's hallway first, his heart nearly stopping when he saw Sophie's and Emily's bedroom door standing open. “Clara!” Clara rushed forward. “Emily!” No answer. “Sophie!” No answer. Jade pushed the door open, and the beds were empty. The blankets lay scattered across the floor, one pillow resting near the doorway as though it had been knocked aside during a struggle. Clara froze in the doorway, her entire body going numb. “Nooooo!!!” She rushed inside, searching the room desperately as though the children might somehow be hiding beneath the beds. “No, no, no...” Her hands trembled as she looked around the empty room. Jade immediately turned toward the other bedroom, his instincts screaming that there was still someone inside. Lucas was there. But he wasn't alone. One of the intruders had grabbed him from behind. Lucas was fighting violently, kicking and twisting in the man's grip as he tried to break free. “Let me go! Let me go!!” The man tightened
The uneasy feeling refused to leave Clara for the rest of the evening. Even after Jade increased the security around the mansion, she couldn't shake the sensation that something was wrong. She tried to convince herself that it was simply the aftermath of everything they had endured over the past few months. Yet every time she looked toward the windows, she found herself wondering whether someone was standing beyond the walls, watching her family from the darkness. Jade noticed every glance. He didn't say anything at first. He simply kept Clara close. The children, fortunately, remained unaware of the tension hanging over the adults. Sophie was sitting on the carpet, showing Emily a collection of toys she insisted were her "treasures," while Lucas was helping them arrange the toys into what he called a "proper kingdom." Clara watched them with a small smile, her heart aching with a strange mixture of gratitude and fear. There had been a time when she never believed sh
Connor slowly exhaled. “Oh, fuck me! You have got to be kidding me.” Alexander's expression darkened. “Those two idiots are involved?” The bodyguard nodded. “We believe they've been communicating with her for several weeks. Their meetings were difficult to trace because they used disposable phones and changed locations frequently.” Jade closed the folder, his mind immediately shifting into calculation. So while Vivienne had been pretending to be Lena, she had been building alliances. Vanessa and Thomas had already proven how far they were willing to go when Clara was involved, and now they had joined forces with a woman who understood exactly how to manipulate people to her advantage. What a fucking fool! Jade's expression became colder. “Find them! As soon as possible!" The bodyguard nodded. “Yes, sir.” Jade's voice stopped him before he could leave. “And when you do?” The bodyguard turned back, and Jade looked directly at him. “Don't touch them.” He paused...
“Clara! Clara!” Jade’s voice echoed through the dark mansion as he and Connor rushed through the halls, their phone flashlights sweeping frantically across the walls. “Where are you? Clara!” Through their connected earpods, Alexander’s panicked voice rang in their ears. “Find her! Find Clara and the kids now! Someone is inside the house, and they cut the power!” "I know, damn it!" Jade clenched his jaw as they hurried forward, his heart pounding harder with every second. Somewhere deeper inside the mansion, Clara stood between the children and three masked men who had charged toward them in the darkness. Emily and Sophie cried out in terror, but Clara stepped forward instead of backing away. In her past life, after losing everything, she had learned to fight—boxing, self-defense, anything that could keep her alive. Now, every lesson came rushing back. She ducked the first man’s swing, drove her fist into his stomach, and kicked another hard enough to send him stumbling backw
By noon, the plan was in motion. Jade had deliberately allowed certain information to circulate through channels he knew Vivienne's people were monitoring. The information was simple enough to sound believable: Clara would leave the mansion that afternoon, supposedly going alone. Her security detail would be minimal, and for approximately thirty minutes, she would be vulnerable. Except none of it was true. Clara wasn't leaving the mansion at all. The woman leaving through the front gate would be one of the family's trusted female security officers disguised as Clara. Every vehicle involved would be monitored, every road along the route had been secured, Alexander had men positioned several streets away, and Connor had his own people watching the surrounding area. Jade was monitoring everything from inside his study. It was a carefully constructed trap, designed to draw Vivienne out of hiding and finally reveal the people working for her. At precisely two o'clock, the deco
Clara pulled Sophie closer, pressing the little girl gently against her chest as the child’s sobs shook her small body. “Shhh…” Clara murmured softly, her voice low and comforting as she rubbed the girl’s back in slow, steady strokes. “It’s okay… you’re safe now. Mommy is here.” She let Sophie
The living room remained frozen in stunned silence after the slaps. No one moved. No one even seemed to breathe. Vanessa still sat on the floor exactly where she had fallen, her once elegant posture shattered as both hands clutched her burning cheeks. Her entire body trembled faintly as she
Clara’s heart shattered the moment she saw them. For a brief moment, she remained frozen at the top of the staircase, her fingers gripping the railing as a crushing wave of emotion surged violently through her chest. The three children looked painfully small standing in the center of the vast l
Clara's eyes flew open as a sharp, ragged gasp tore from her throat. Her chest heaved violently, as though she had just been dragged from the crushing depths of a frozen ocean, and her lungs burned as she sucked in air again and again, each breath loud and uneven. Her body trembled uncontroll







