LOGINAliya's POVThe words stayed inside my head long after Dylan said them aloud.Our son, not maybe not possibly, not eventually. Leo was Dylan’s son. The truth felt so overwhelming emotionally that for several seconds I genuinely could not process anything else around me properly. My thoughts kept jumping backward through years of memories, pain, loneliness, confusion, and every difficult moment I endured while raising Leo alone. All this time, the man standing in front of me had unknowingly existed inside our lives from the very beginning.“He’s really yours,” I whispered softly. Dylan nodded once slowly.“Yes,” he replied quietly.My chest tightened painfully again while emotions crashed into each other inside me uncontrollably. Relief mixed with shock. Happiness mixed with fear. And underneath everything else sat one painful realization that would not leave my mind.Leo finally had the father he always wanted. Tears slipped down my face again before I could stop them. I looked toward
Dylan's POV The moment Aliya realized I was hiding something, the atmosphere inside the room changed immediately.Her expression stayed calm outwardly, but I could see the questions building rapidly behind her eyes now. Leo remained distracted nearby thankfully, still curled quietly against the couch while watching something on his tablet without much focus. I had dreaded this conversation for weeks already, not because I wanted to deceive her, but because timing never seemed right enough for something this complicated. And now Lydia had forced the truth into the open during the worst possible moment.That alone made me angry all over again. “What do you mean recently?” Aliya asked softly.I leaned back slowly against the chair while trying to organize thoughts I should have explained much earlier already. The problem was that none of this had felt certain enough initially.“After Leo called me ‘Dad’ at the amusement park,” I admitted quietly. Aliya frowned slightly after hearing tha
Aliya's POVEverything after the gunshot felt blurry and emotionally exhausting. Police officers moved around the parking structure collecting statements while paramedics attended to the injured security guard nearby. The flashing emergency lights painted everything in harsh colors that only made the situation feel more unreal inside my head. Leo stayed unusually quiet beside me through all of it, and honestly, that frightened me more than if he had cried loudly. Children were never supposed to become this silent from fear.We were eventually escorted into a private waiting area inside another building connected to the parking structure. Dylan refused to let us leave without additional protection, and none of the officers argued with him after witnessing the situation firsthand. The room they brought us into was calm and warm compared to the chaos outside, but my body still had not stopped shaking properly. Every loud sound made my heart jump now because my mind kept replaying Lydia r
Dylan's POVThe gunshot echoed through the parking structure like an explosion, freezing everyone for one horrifying second.Aliya screamed immediately while Leo buried his face against her completely, terrified beyond words now. The guards moved fast, several of them lunging toward Lydia at once while Richard stumbled backward in shock from the chaos erupting around him. My own pulse slammed violently inside my chest as I searched frantically for the source of blood, expecting the worst instantly. For a terrifying moment, nobody moved clearly enough for me to understand who the bullet had actually hit.Then one of the guards collapsed onto the concrete floor.Blood spread quickly across his shoulder while another security officer immediately grabbed Lydia’s wrist violently, forcing the gun away from her hand before she could fire again. The weapon clattered loudly across the floor while chaos completely exploded afterward.“Get her down!” someone shouted.Lydia screamed wildly while
Aliya's POVThe moment Lydia pulled out the gun, my entire body stopped functioning properly.Fear exploded through me so violently that I could barely breathe as my eyes locked onto the weapon in her trembling hand. Leo immediately grabbed onto me tightly, confused and terrified all at once while the guards shouted commands across the parking structure. Everything around us suddenly felt unreal, like the scene unfolding in front of me belonged inside a nightmare instead of real life. Lydia’s expression had changed completely now, and whatever fragile control she still held earlier had finally shattered beyond repair.“Lydia,” Dylan said carefully. His voice stayed calm, but I could hear the dangerous tension beneath it immediately. He moved slightly in front of us again, shielding both Leo and me without hesitation.“Put the gun down,” he continued quietly.“No,” Lydia replied sharply. Her hand shook visibly while holding the weapon, but somehow that only made the situation more terr
Dylan's POVThe sound of Richard’s footsteps echoing through the parking structure made every instinct inside me sharpen instantly.The underground level suddenly felt too open and too confined at the same time, with concrete pillars creating endless blind spots across the dim space. Aliya stood beside me holding Leo tightly while the remaining guards moved strategically around us, trying to secure a clear route toward the vehicle waiting several rows ahead. The alarms from above still echoed faintly through the structure, but down here another sound had started replacing them gradually. Tension. Pure tension hanging so heavily in the air that every breath felt strained.“Get them to the car,” I ordered quietly. Two guards immediately moved toward Aliya and Leo while I stayed behind slightly, my eyes fixed on the dark entrance corridor where Richard’s footsteps continued approaching.“You’re coming too,” Aliya said sharply beside me. I looked toward her immediately. Fear filled her ex







