All Chapters of THE BILLIONAIRE'S HIDDEN MISSION : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Elara locked the bedroom door behind her and sat still for several seconds, fingers pressed against her forehead. The note on her lap felt heavier than paper. She kept reading the words as though they might rearrange themselves into something less threatening.Your husband built an empire of enemies.You’ll be the first to fall.She let out a shaky breath and stood. Sitting only made her thoughts louder. She needed movement. Logic. Something to anchor herself.She opened the door and stepped into the hallway. The mansion lights were dimmed to their nighttime settings, soft glows that lined the floor edges, enough to see but not enough to make the house feel welcoming.“Welcome home, Mrs. Moretti,” the AI announced from the ceiling panel.The greeting felt late, almost delayed. She frowned.“I’ve been home,” she muttered.“Apologies,” the voice responded, though AI apologies never sounded sincere. “System recalibrating.”Elara walked down the hallway, her footsteps echoing slightly. Sh

Elara didn’t move at first. She stood at the bottom of the staircase, her phone still pressed to her ear, the word LOCKDOWN burning red on her screen. Shadows stretched behind her like they were waiting for her to turn around.“Anders,” she whispered again, “listen carefully. Is anyone coming inside?”“No,” he said quickly. “The lockdown sealed the entire property. No one can enter. No one can leave.”“Then who activated it?” She kept her voice low, almost soundless.“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” he said. “The system didn’t give any authorization name. It just… triggered.”She rubbed the side of her neck, her skin felt cold, prickled. “I’m coming there.”“No,” he said sharply. “Stay where you are.”She froze. “Why?”“Because if someone triggered a lockdown from inside, they might be between you and the control room.”Her breath caught. She scanned the hallway again. Too quiet. Too still.Then something clicked behind her.A soft sound. Like metal shifting.She turned quickly

For a second, Elara couldn’t tell whether the sound came from her chest or the shattered noise downstairs. Something felt unhinged inside her, like the house had shifted on its foundation. Valentina’s fingers pressed hard into her wrist, urging her toward the nearest hallway.“Elara, move,” Valentina whispered, barely audible. Her voice had dropped its usual cold edge; fear had taken that place.They took two steps, only two, before the lights flickered overhead. A soft hum crawled through the walls, the kind that always came before the mansion’s automated systems made a decision no one authorized.“Elara!”The voice downstairs was closer now. Confident, as if calling out to someone it already owned.Valentina yanked her toward the service corridor, but the moment they reached the narrow passage, something heavy slammed against the main door below. The vibration rushed through the floorboards.There were at least two intruders. Maybe three. They weren’t guessing anymore; they knew the

For a moment, Elara couldn’t move.The words Kai had murmured were still hanging in the air, sharp and chilling, like the cold breath of a door left open in winter.Target acquired.Not protected.Not escorted.Not rescued.Acquired.Kai slipped the unmarked device back into his jacket as if nothing had happened. When he turned toward her, the shadows in the narrow hallway caught the angles of his face, and she couldn’t read a single thing in his expression.He lifted a hand, not touching her, just gesturing.“Inside. Now.”Elara stepped back on instinct. “Who were you talking to?”“Not here,” he said quietly.That answer wasn’t good enough, and he knew it, but his eyes flicked past her shoulder, listening for something she couldn’t hear. She didn’t know if he was being cautious or hiding something, and that uncertainty made her skin crawl.Another faint sound rolled through the house.A scraping.A floorboard shifting.Slow. Deliberate.Not Kai. Not Valentina. Not her.Her pulse le

For a moment, no one spoke.Not Kai.Not Elara.Not even the hum of the dim room seemed willing to interrupt the tension stretching between them.Kai’s eyes stayed on the folder she held to her chest. They were unreadable again, but not empty. There was something simmering underneath, a tightness, a restraint she didn’t understand yet.“Elara,” he said quietly, “hand it over.”Her fingers tightened around the file. “Why? So you can hide more things from me?”Kai exhaled slowly, the kind of breath people take when they’re trying not to snap. He stepped toward her, not aggressively, just enough that she caught the faint scent of smoke on his clothes from the gunfire outside.“I’m not the threat here,” he said. “Put it down.”“You were reporting on me,” she whispered.His jaw flexed, and for the first time, a flicker of something like guilt crossed his face. But he didn’t confirm it. He didn’t deny it either. He only reached gently for the folder, and this time, she let him take it becau