The note sat on her kitchen table, mocking her beneath the glow of the overhead light. Ivy hadn't touched it again since opening it, but her eyes kept drifting to the cruel lines. Words typed with surgical precision. No emotion. No signature.
Just a promise.
A threat.
Her palms were still damp as she paced the living room, arms wrapped around herself. Leo was asleep down the hall, tucked safely in a cocoon of blankets, but Ivy knew safety was a fleeting illusion.
This was it. The line she'd been hoping would never come. Someone knew.
And it wasn't just anyone.
He has your eyes. That's how I knew.
There was only one man in the world who could say that with such certainty.
Her knees buckled beneath her as she sank onto the couch, memories flooding in. That night—years ago—came rushing back with relentless force. The heat of Aiden's hands. The weight of his gaze. The way his voice had dropped to a whisper when he said her name like it tasted expensive.
She had never told him.
She had convinced herself he wouldn't care.
That he'd never look for them.
But he had.
He was watching.
Thorne Enterprises – Two Days Later
Aiden sat in his car across from a playground.
From this distance, he could barely make out Leo's features, but there was no mistaking the boy's energy. The reckless joy. The way he climbed the jungle gym like he didn't know fear.
Just like Aiden had as a kid.
"He looks like you," Richard murmured beside him, tapping through photos on a tablet. "Same eyes. Same smirk. Same damn chin."
Aiden didn't answer. He couldn't.
Something about watching Leo made everything more real. He'd been so focused on control—on unraveling Ivy's disappearance like a puzzle—that he hadn't prepared for the sight of his own son alive, laughing, breathing.
A son he hadn't known existed.
And Ivy—she had looked haunted. Thin. Distracted. Always checking over her shoulder.
He could almost feel her fear through the glass.
"She hasn't made any move to run," Richard said. "But her patterns changed since the envelope."
"She found it."
Aiden's voice was low, almost thoughtful. He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel.
"She knows someone's watching."
"Should I escalate?"
Aiden shook his head slowly. "No. Pull back."
Richard turned to him. "Sir?"
"I want her to come to me. Not run again."
Ivy's Apartment – That Night
Maddie arrived with two suitcases and a look of determination.
"You're not doing this alone," she said, barging past Ivy.
"I told you, I'm not leaving." Ivy stood firm, arms crossed.
Maddie stared at her for a long second. "Are you sure?"
"No. But I'm tired of running. Leo deserves better. I need to know what he wants. And if this… man thinks he can just walk back into our lives like some billionaire knight with a hidden agenda, then he has another thing coming."
Maddie dropped the suitcases with a thud. "God, you're dramatic. I love it."
They both laughed, but the humor was fleeting.
"What if he tries to take him?" Maddie asked, voice hushed.
"I won't let him. I'll fight. Every damn step of the way."
Elsewhere – The Shadows Move
A figure watched from a distance. Not Aiden. Someone else.
Someone who had followed Ivy once, years ago. Someone who knew more than they should.
A burner phone buzzed in his coat pocket. One message flashed:
"Status?"
He typed back:
"She's not running. Yet."
Then pocketed the phone and disappeared into the night.