Chapter 26

"The person they're attacking isn't who you are either," Mikel said quietly. "The cold, calculating woman in these stories... that's not the mother I've watched with Emma. That's not the woman who stays up all night when Emma's sick, or who researches every ingredient in her food, or who reads three bedtime stories."

"But what if people believe it? What if the CPS worker believes it?"

"Then we show them the truth. We show them Emma—happy, healthy, loved. We show them the home you've built, the life you've given her, the mother you are."

I wanted to believe him, but I was scared. "What if that's not enough? What if someone with enough money and influence can make lies look like truth?"

Mikel took my hand. "Then we fight. With everything we have. Because that little girl upstairs deserves parents who don't give up."

His certainty steadied me.

"I need to be at the office early tomorrow," I said. "Before seven."

"I'll pick you up at six-thirty."

"Mikel, you don't need to—"

"Yes, I do." He squeezed my hand. "Bella, someone is running a sophisticated operation against us. They have access to confidential information, they're orchestrating media attacks, and it's escalating rapidly. This isn't random harassment. This is warfare."

A chill ran through me. Warfare implied someone wanted to destroy us to gain something.

"Do you think it's just Sophia?"

"I think Sophia is a pawn, but she couldn't pull this off alone." Mikel's expression darkened. "I'm thinking about the timing. The surveillance, the media coordination, the access to private records. This feels bigger than personal revenge."

"Who would benefit from destroying both our companies?"

"That's what we need to figure out."

My phone buzzed. It was Lucas: *Security sweep complete. Emma's secure. You both need to see what we found. Meet me in Elena's study.*

We found Lucas surrounded by electronic equipment. He looked grim.

"What did you find?" I asked.

"Surveillance devices. Professional grade, not some paparazzi operation." He held up something the size of a thumb drive. "This was in your car. It's been tracking your movements and recording conversations."

I felt sick. "How long has it been there?"

"At least six weeks. Someone has been monitoring you and recording your private conversations."

"Emma," I whispered. "She's been in the car with me."

"Worse," Lucas said, "we found devices at Mikel's house, your office building, even at Emma's school. Someone has been conducting comprehensive surveillance on your entire family."

Mikel's face was stone. "Show me everything."

Lucas spread out photos and technical specifications of the devices. "This is a professional operation. It requires significant resources and expertise. This isn't a scorned ex-girlfriend working alone."

"Corporate espionage," I said. "Someone wants to destroy us professionally and personally."

"The question is who," Lucas said. "Who benefits from taking down both companies?"

Before anyone could answer, Elena entered the room. She looked furious.

"I know who," she said. "And it's time this family stopped playing defense."

She closed the door behind her.

"Thomas Romano," she said. "My brother has decided to finish what he started years ago."

I felt like I'd been punched. Thomas Romano was Elena's estranged brother, the one who'd tried to destroy the family business decades ago, the one Elena never spoke about.

"Thomas has been waiting for this moment," Elena continued. "When the family was vulnerable. The perfect opportunity for revenge."

"But why now?" Mikel asked.

Elena's smile was cold. "Because he's dying. Six months, maybe less. And he wants to destroy everything I've built before he goes."

"Using Sophia," I said.

"Sophia, corporate spies, media manipulation, legal harassment. Thomas was always methodical." Elena opened a thick file. "I've been investigating him for months."

She spread out the contents—photographs, financial records, communication logs.

"Thomas has been funding Sophia. He's the one who accessed Emma's medical records, hired the surveillance team, orchestrated the media campaign. Sophia thinks she's fighting for love, but she's just a weapon in a war that started before she was born."

I sank into a chair. A war that started before I was born.

"A war that ends now," Elena said. "Thomas wants to hurt this family? He's about to learn that Romano women don't break easily."

Lucas was already on his phone, coordinating additional security. Mikel was studying the photographs with the focused intensity of someone planning a strategy.

And I was thinking about Emma, sleeping peacefully upstairs, unaware that her great-uncle was trying to destroy her life over decades-old grievances.

"What do we do?" I asked.

Elena's expression was fierce. "We go to war. But first, we protect what matters most."

She picked up her phone and dialed. "Security to the guest wing. No one enters or exits without my authorization."

As Elena issued orders and Lucas coordinated protection, I felt the weight of history pressing down on us. This wasn't just about Mikel and me anymore. This was about family, legacy, and protecting Emma from the sins of previous generations.

My phone buzzed. Maya: *Building security found evidence of break-in at your office. Files missing. Need you here ASAP.*

I showed Mikel the message, and he swore.

"We'll handle it in the morning," he said. "Emma's safety comes first tonight."

But as I looked at the surveillance equipment and the evidence of months of careful planning, I realized safety might be more complicated than we thought.

Someone had been watching us for weeks, recording our conversations, following our movements, learning our vulnerabilities. They knew Emma's schedule, our routines, our weaknesses.

And tomorrow, Child Protective Services would arrive, armed with carefully crafted lies designed to make me look unfit.

The perfect trap was closing around us.

But as I watched Elena and Lucas work, I remembered something from Emma's book. Dolphins are stronger in pods.

Thomas Romano had been planning his revenge for years, but he'd made one crucial miscalculation.

He'd forgotten what this family would do to protect each other.

The war was coming, but we wouldn't be fighting it alone.