The entire mansion was in lockdown. Guards scrambled to their positions, each one trained, each one loyal—but all aware of one thing: Richard had made his move.
Inside his study, Dylan stood in front of the surveillance screens, his expression calm, but his eyes cold and calculating.
"They thought they could sneak in," Jayden said with a twisted grin. "Didn't expect the landmines."
"We let a few escape on purpose," Dylan replied. "Let them run back and tell Richard what happened. Let the fear do half our job."
He turned to Jayden. "Double the guards around Heaven and Michael."
Jayden hesitated. "You don't think Richard would actually try to take her, do you?"
Dylan's voice was stone. "He won't stop until he's taken everything I care about."
---
HEAVEN'S ROOM
Heaven sat on the edge of her bed, fingers clenched, eyes fixed on the window as distant explosions rumbled like thunder. She had begged to know what was going on, but all she got were silence and half-truths.
Then, the door opened. Dylan stepped in, his black shirt speckled with dust, blood on the corner of his sleeve.
Heaven's breath hitched. "Are you hurt?"
"No," he said, surprised at the concern in her voice.
"Then whose blood is that?"
He ignored the question. "Pack your things. You're leaving the estate tonight."
"What?" she rose, eyes wide. "No. I'm not leaving Michael behind."
"You won't. He's coming with you."
"And you?"
Dylan paused, then looked her straight in the eyes. "I have a war to finish."
"I'm not running away like some scared—"
"Heaven," his voice dropped. "This isn't up for debate. Richard came for you once. He'll come again. And I'm not going to lose you."
Something flickered in her heart—anger, maybe. Or something deeper. "You say that, but you don't even trust me enough to tell me the truth. About this war. About you. About who Richard even is!"
Dylan exhaled heavily and sat down.
"Richard is my stepbrother," he began. "Same father. Different mothers. But my grandfather saw more in me than him. I was the bastard. He was the heir. But in the end, I inherited it all."
Heaven's eyes widened.
"He hated me for it," Dylan continued. "Left. Built his own empire in the shadows. And now he wants to destroy mine—and me."
He leaned forward. "And he'll use you to do it."
Heaven was quiet for a long moment. "So this is personal."
Dylan looked up at her. "Everything is personal now."
---
RICHARD'S BASE
Richard slammed his fist into the table. "He was ready for us."
Darius, now his right-hand man after betraying Dylan, stepped forward. "Then we change tactics."
Richard's eyes glinted with malice. "He thinks by protecting her, he's winning. But I've studied Dylan long enough to know one thing…"
He turned to Darius. "He'll do anything to protect her. That's his weakness."
He pointed at a map. "We strike again. But this time, we don't go through the front. We'll cut off his resources. Hit his allies. Make him bleed slowly."
"And Heaven?" Darius asked.
A cruel smile crept onto Richard's lips. "She'll come to me… eventually."
---
ON THE ROAD – ESCAPE IN THE NIGHT
In the dead of night, Heaven and Michael were escorted by trusted men through a secret passage under the estate. Dylan stood beside the car as she stepped in.
"You'll be safe there," he said quietly.
Heaven looked out the window. "And what about you?"
"I'll come back for you," he said, his voice sincere.
He reached out, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "I promise."
For a second, she saw the man beneath the monster. The man who'd lost everything. The man fighting to hold onto what little he had left.
As the car drove away, Dylan stood alone in the darkness, wind whispering through the trees.
The war had just begun.