CHAPTER 13: In the Blink of an Eye
Aurora didn't sleep.
She sat on the edge of her bed, one hand on her phone, the other clutching the worn stuffed elephant Noah had slept with since birth. The house was quiet—too quiet. Every creak sounded like a footstep. Every gust of wind against the window made her flinch.
Across the hall, Noah was curled up, his chest rising and falling in steady rhythm. Still her baby. Still innocent.
But that innocence was under siege now.
She didn't need Damien's warning to know it. She could feel it.
There was someone out there watching. Waiting.
---
Meanwhile, Damien was in his penthouse office, pacing.
The PI had found more. A burner phone discarded in a trash can three blocks from Aurora's apartment. A digital footprint that led nowhere—no name, no email, no trace.
But someone had paid Sabrina.
Someone wanted Aurora shaken. Wanted Damien distracted.
And they were damn good at staying hidden.
Maxwell entered quietly. "We traced a large cash withdrawal. Offshore account. Linked to an old shell corporation."
"Let me guess," Damien muttered. "One I used to own."
Maxwell nodded grimly. "Back when you were expanding the Hong Kong holdings. It was transferred, supposedly dissolved. But someone kept it alive."
Damien's jaw tightened. "Someone inside the family."
Maxwell hesitated, then said it. "Julian."
Damien's half-brother.
Of course.
The rivalry between them had always simmered, but Julian never had the stomach for direct confrontation. He was slick, careful, hidden in layers of legality. But this? This crossed a line.
Involving Noah crossed the line.
---
The next morning, Aurora took Noah to the library—a quiet place, public, where she thought they'd be safe. She needed normalcy. Needed to forget, even for a moment, that their lives were under surveillance.
Noah ran ahead to the children's section, climbing into a beanbag chair with a stack of picture books.
Aurora smiled—until her phone buzzed.
Blocked Number: You should've stayed gone.
Her heart dropped.
She scanned the room. Ordinary people. Parents. A librarian stacking books. No one looked out of place.
But someone was.
She grabbed her bag and hurried toward Noah's corner.
He wasn't there.
The beanbag chair was empty.
Her vision narrowed. Her breath caught.
"Noah?" she called, voice cracking. "Noah!"
People turned. The librarian looked up in alarm.
Aurora ran, weaving through bookshelves, calling his name louder.
"Noah!"
Then—"Mommy!"
From behind a shelf of early readers, Noah stepped out, holding a stuffed animal one of the librarians had given him.
Aurora dropped to her knees, hugging him so tightly he squeaked.
"Where were you?" she whispered, fighting back tears.
"I was right here," he said, confused. "I wanted to find you a surprise."
She kissed the top of his head, trembling.
It hadn't even been a minute. But it was enough to know how easily everything could be lost.
---
She called Damien.
The moment he picked up and heard her voice—shaky, near hysterical—he didn't ask questions.
"I'm sending a car," he said. "You and Noah are coming to me. Now."
By the time they arrived at his penthouse, a security team was already in place. Cameras. Guards. Panic buttons.
Noah was distracted by the giant TV and endless snacks.
Aurora wasn't.
Damien stood at the window, tense.
"Julian?" she asked.
Damien nodded once. "I'm almost sure. He's got motive, money, and no morals."
Aurora sat on the edge of his sleek leather couch. "What does he want?"
Damien turned to her, eyes burning. "Control. Over Blackwood Global. And over me."
She swallowed. "And you think he'd… hurt a child for that?"
Damien didn't answer.
He didn't have to.
---
That night, Aurora sat in one of the guest rooms, watching Noah sleep in Damien's massive bed, his tiny body dwarfed by pillows and plush blankets.
She felt the burn of fear in her chest. But beneath it—something stronger. Steelier.
Resolve.
If someone was coming for them, she wasn't going to hide. She was going to fight.
For Noah.
For Damien.
For the life they were finally starting to build.
---
In a dark room across the city, Julian Blackwood poured himself a drink and smiled as he watched the news report about Sabrina's resignation. His eyes flicked to his phone, where a live feed showed the Blackwood penthouse security footage.
"You should've stayed gone, little brother," he murmured.
---