Chapter 3 - The Midnight BreachThe heavy thud of boots echoing down my apartment hallway shattered the night.
It wasn't Arthur Vance this time. Before I could reach the front door, the heavy oak frame shuddered under a massive, coordinated strike. The brass deadbolt snapped like dry pine, and the door swung wide open, crashing against the interior wall.
I screamed, grabbing a heavy ceramic vase from the entryway table, but strong hands caught my wrists before I could swing it.
"Elena. Stop."
Sebastian’s voice was ragged, his chest heaving as he stared down at me. His expensive designer suit was rumpled, his tie loosened, and his eyes burned with an intensity that terrified me more than the broken door. Behind him stood four armed private security operatives in tactical gear, securing the perimeter of my small living room.
"You—you broke into my home?" I gasped, struggling against his grip, though he released me the second he realized I was safe.
"Your locks are a joke," Sebastian said, his gaze darting frantically toward the hallway where the children's bedrooms were. "Arthur Vance was here, wasn't he? He tried to intimidate you into signing a waiver."
"How do you know that?" I stepped back, my voice trembling with adrenaline and fury. "You just broke down my door! You're acting like a tyrant, just like your grandfather! Get out of my house, Sebastian!"
He didn't move. He ran a hand through his dark hair, looking around the modest, cramped apartment—the peeling wallpaper, the second-hand sofa, the faded alphabet rug on the floor where my babies played. The realization of how they had lived while he inhabited gilded palaces seemed to physically strike him.
"Elena, my grandfather knows where you are," Sebastian said, his voice dropping to a desperate whisper. "Vance didn't come here as a lawyer; he came as a scout. Grandfather has already convened the family council. They are drafting emergency guardianship petitions. They believe illegitimate heirs raised outside Vale control are a threat to the succession."
My blood ran ice cold. "They can't do that. I am their mother!"
"In the eyes of the law, we were legally divorced four years ago, and my grandfather owns half the judiciary in this state," Sebastian said grimly, stepping closer. "The only way to stop them—the only way to keep our children safe—is to let me protect you. Not as an ex-husband. As a husband again."
May you like
I stared at him, the absurdity of his words hanging in the cold air between us. "You want me to marry you? Again? After everything?"
"I want to wage war on my own family," Sebastian replied, his gray eyes locking onto mine with terrifying resolve. "And I cannot do that if you are standing outside my fortress. Pack your bags, Elena. You and the triplets are coming home with me tonight."
