Chapter 12 - The Enemy Revealed

The photograph had been the first warning. The email was the second. But the call, the one that came exactly at midnight made it real.

Serena’s phone vibrated sharply against the nightstand. She glanced at the screen.

Unknown Number Her thumb hovered, then she answered.

“Hello?” Her voice was calm, controlled.

“Serena Blake.” The voice was smooth, deliberate, familiar. “Do you enjoy the game?”

Her stomach clenched. “Who is this?”

A low chuckle came through. “Someone who knows exactly how much you care about your child.”

Serena’s heart rate stayed steady. Her hand tightened around the phone. “Leave my son alone.”

“Oh, I won’t touch him… yet.” The voice paused, almost savoring the fear. “But every move you make, every glance at him, is being watched.”

Serena hung up. Immediately, she called Ethan.

He answered on the second ring. “What happened?”

“They know,” she said quietly. “They’ve been observing Leo. They know our routines. And they just confirmed it personally.”

“Do you know who it is?” Ethan asked.

She shook her head, pacing her apartment. “No. But I’ve narrowed it down. Someone with access. Someone smart. Someone who benefits from chaos.”

Ethan was silent for a moment, then said, “We’ll find them. Quietly. No media. No exposure. No risks to him.”

Serena nodded. “I already started tracing digital footprints. But they’re clever. Too clever for an ordinary hacker.”

The next morning, Serena arrived at Leo’s school, cautious as ever. The black car she’d noticed before wasn’t there, but the feeling of being watched lingered. Leo, oblivious, ran ahead of her, backpack bouncing.

At the school gate, Ethan was waiting.

“Too soon?” he asked.

“Never too soon,” she replied.

He followed her discreetly as she picked up Leo, eyes scanning every angle.

“You don’t have to follow,” she said, her voice quiet but firm.

“I’m here,” he said simply. “As insurance.”

Leo looked between them, curious. “Who’s this?”

“Someone who makes sure you’re safe,” Serena said gently, tugging him closer.

By late afternoon, Serena and Ethan were at her apartment, reviewing surveillance feeds, cross-referencing timestamps, and tracing IP addresses.

“Here,” Serena said, pointing at a pattern. “The photos of Leo all came from this range of addresses.”

Ethan leaned over her shoulder. “Corporate proxy servers. Someone with serious resources.”

“Exactly,” she said. “And only someone with access to our professional world could know these patterns.”

He straightened, jaw tight. “Blackwood Holdings competitors?”

Serena shook her head. “No. Too messy. Too public. This is personal.”

Ethan’s eyes flickered. “Personal?”

She didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she pulled out a binder. Inside were careful notes on every suspicious contact, every anomaly, every previous threat that had seemed insignificant at the time.

“This isn’t just about me,” she said finally. “It’s about him. And whoever is behind this knows exactly which buttons to press.”

Ethan’s gaze hardened. “Then we remove them from the board, quietly. Permanently.”

Serena met his eyes. “I don’t want retaliation. I want prevention.”

“Prevention often requires action first,” he said.

A tense pause stretched. Both understood the balance too much force, and Leo could be exposed; too little, and the threat would escalate.

Hours later, Serena tucked Leo into bed.

“Mom,” he whispered, eyes heavy. “Will he ever come back?”

She brushed his hair back. “Who?”

“The sad man,” he murmured. “The one who watches.”

Serena froze. Ethan had been careful to stay unseen, but Leo’s perception was sharper than she realized.

She smiled softly. “We’ll keep you safe, Leo. Always.”

Across the city, Ethan reviewed the same files, scanning for anomalies. He clenched his fists. Whoever was behind this had underestimated them both.

And whoever it was, they were about to learn that Serena Blake didn’t fight alone.