Lahat ng Kabanata ng Billionaire’s Hidden Heir: Kabanata 21 - Kabanata 30

The house in Upstate New York was supposed to be untouchable.Hidden in a dense stretch of forest, miles from the nearest town, and under constant watch by Dominic’s best security personnel, it felt like a different world—a quiet one. But quiet could be deceiving.Ava sat on the edge of the bed, combing through Liam’s damp curls after his evening bath. He giggled, wriggling away from her brush.“Hold still,” she said, laughing softly. “You’re worse than a puppy.”“Puppies don’t eat broccoli,” Liam replied, triumphant, pointing at his clean plate.Dominic entered the room just as Ava finished. “We’ll make him a medal: ‘Broccoli Beast of the Year.’”Liam’s eyes lit up. “Will it be shiny?”“The shiniest,” Dominic promised.He ruffled Liam’s hair, then gave Ava a small, meaningful look. They hadn’t told Liam the real reason they’d left the city. He just thought it was a fun forest vacation with Daddy and Mommy.Ava was glad for the illusion—for now.When Liam finally fell asleep, Ava met

The safehouse sat on a ridge outside Philadelphia, hidden behind acres of brush and tall, wrought-iron fencing. From above, it looked abandoned—a relic of a forgotten estate. But the thermal drones circling overhead revealed movement inside.Dominic watched the live feed on a tablet from the SUV, engine humming low beneath him. He was suited in all-black tactical gear, earpiece in place, and a semi-automatic strapped to his chest.“Three guards at the main gate,” said Rhys, his head of security, sitting beside him. “Two more on patrol. Ezra’s inside. Thermal reads confirm a sixth heat signature matching his size and gait.”“And the cameras?”“Offline. Cut from the inside.”Dominic’s eyes darkened. “That’s him.”Ava sat behind them, calm and silent. She wore Kevlar beneath her hoodie, her hair pulled back in a tight braid. Her heart raced, but her mind was sharper than ever.“I want eyes on all exits,” she said, breaking the silence. “If he tries to run, we don’t chase—we block and con

The house smelled like lemon cleaner and sunlight.Ava stood barefoot in the kitchen, a paint-smeared roller in one hand, her hoodie sleeves rolled up to the elbows. The walls, once beige and cold, were now a warm cream color—soft and safe, like the start of something new.She’d chosen every detail of this home. The swing set in the backyard. The hand-me-down couch she refused to replace. The bookshelf filled with titles she hadn’t touched in years.It was the first place that felt hers.Liam was upstairs, asleep beneath glow-in-the-dark stars she and Dominic had stuck on his ceiling the night before. And Dominic?He was silent. Working. Rebuilding—not his company, but his reputation.She missed him, even when he was just one room away.But Ava needed this moment alone.She caught sight of herself in the hallway mirror—her face flushed from painting, her hair in a messy knot. No designer clothes. No makeup. Just her.And for the first time in a long time… she didn’t flinch.Later that

The following morning, Ava sat across from Lucia, both of them hunched over a laptop filled with firewalls and flashing lines of code. Dominic stood behind them, arms folded, his face tense but focused.“They responded faster than I expected,” Lucia said, fingers flying across the keyboard. “Which means they’re watching everything in real time.”“That’s good, right?” Ava asked cautiously.Lucia gave a dry smile. “Good if you want to poke the bear. Bad if you’re not ready to fight the bear.”Dominic leaned forward. “We’re ready.”For days, they’d carefully crafted a false backdoor into Project Haven’s network, feeding misleading files and fake financial documents into a decoy server. The Network had taken the bait, thinking they were gaining real access to the charity's internal system.Now, they were hooked.“What are we seeing?” Ava asked.Lucia adjusted her glasses and pointed at a flashing window. “Multiple IPs pinging us from ghost servers around the world—Ukraine, Singapore, Vene

The following morning, Dominic stood at the floor-to-ceiling window of his office, watching the city skyline bathe in the golden light of dawn. The weight of Gideon’s words still pressed against his chest like an iron anchor. Ava was right. The Network had burrowed deeper than they ever imagined. A soft knock at the door broke his thoughts. Ava entered, carrying a folder in her hands. “Rhys pulled these for us,” she said quietly, placing them on his desk. “Financial statements, old partnership agreements, family trust documents. Some go back over twenty years.” Dominic turned to face her, his jaw tight. “I’ve read some of these before. Or thought I did.” Ava met his gaze. “We need to go through them again. Line by line. If The Network infiltrated Sinclair Holdings through your father, there may be signs we missed.” Dominic ran a hand through his hair, frustration simmering beneath the surface. “My father was always ruthless, but I never thought he’d deal with people like them.”