The radiator in Adam Mercer’s apartment hissed, a rhythmic, metallic clatter that usually brought a sense of solitary peace. Tonight, however, it sounded deafening.

"You—you absolute lunatic," Robert choked out, trying to adjust his collar with shaking hands once Adam finally shoved him back. "Do you have any idea who you're dealing with? I could buy this entire building, evict you by midnight, and sue you into the Stone Age!"

"Then buy the building," Adam replied, stepping forward until he loomed a foot over Robert. "Do it tonight. But until you hold the deed, you take one more step toward those children, and I won't just throw you out—I'll break every bone in your manicured hands. Get out."

Robert glared at Anna, who was standing frozen behind the couch, her arms wrapped tightly around Lily and Mia.

"You're making a catastrophic mistake, Anna," Robert sneered, adjusting his coat and smoothing his hair as he backed toward the door. "When you come crawling back begging for food, don't look at me. And as for you, mechanic—enjoy your little charity case. She's a walking lawsuit waiting to happen."

With a final venomous glare, Robert and his bodyguard spun around and stormed down the hallway, their heavy footsteps echoing loudly down the concrete stairs.

The apartment door slammed shut.

Silence descended—heavy, suffocating, and charged with terror.

Adam stood by the door for a long moment, breathing heavily, trying to force the raging adrenaline back down into his chest. When he finally turned around, he saw Anna sinking slowly onto the sofa, burying her face in her hands as silent, shaking sobs racked her body.

Lily and Mia ran to her, wrapping their small arms around her waist, crying because their mother was crying.

Adam walked over slowly. He knelt down on the rug in front of them, looking up at Anna.

"Who was that?" Adam asked softly, his voice steadying.

Anna wiped her eyes, looking down at him with an expression of deep, agonizing defeat. "That was my brother. And everything he said... it's true."

"What do you mean?"

"I’m not just some down-on-her-luck baker," Anna whispered, her voice cracking. "My father was Arthur Miller. Miller Industrial Holdings. A multi-billion-dollar manufacturing conglomerate."

Adam blinked, stunned. "Billionaire family?"

"When my father died two years ago, he left the controlling shares split equally between Robert and me," Anna explained, her voice trembling. "Robert wanted to sell the company to a foreign conglomerate—a move that would have laid off thousands of workers in this very city. I fought him. I voted against it on the board."

"And?"

"And Robert used his legal team to freeze my assets, declare me mentally unstable, and tie up my trust in litigation," Anna said, tears spilling freely down her cheeks. "He cut me off completely, threw me out of my home, and threatened to take full custody of Lily and Mia if I didn't sign my shares over to him. That’s why we were on that bench in Central Square, Adam. We were running."

Adam stared at her. The quiet, fragile woman he had taken in off the street wasn't a charity case at all—she was the rightful heir to an industrial empire, hunted by her own blood for corporate greed.