The Aftermath of the WarehouseEmily’s POVThe ride back from the warehouse feels like a funeral march.Leon doesn’t touch me.He doesn’t speak to me.He doesn’t even look at me.His silence is a blade pressed against my throat—cold, sharp, punishing.I sit in the passenger seat with my hands trembling in my lap, replaying everything: the gunfire, the masked intruder, my father’s desperate face, Leon stepping into the shadows like judgment itself. And the moment I put my body between them, choosing—if only for a heartbeat—to protect the man I hadn’t seen in years.A man who abandoned me.A man who may have betrayed Leon long before I ever became part of his world.But a man who is still…my father.My lungs ache. My heartbeat feels bruised. Every part of me is splintered.I don’t know who lied.I don’t know who is still lying.And that’s the part that’s killing me.Leon finally pulls the car into the underground garage beneath the mansion. The engine cuts off. Silence seals over us, th

Brandon’s First MoveEmily’s POVLeon had been quiet all morning—too quiet. Not distant in the cold, controlled way he usually preferred. No. This silence sat heavy on him, coiled like a storm waiting to break.I watched him from the kitchen doorway as he adjusted the cuffs of his suit. Perfect. Sharp. Untouchable. But there was a tension in the set of his shoulders that sent unease clawing up my spine.He was pretending everything was normal.But nothing in our lives was normal anymore.“Leon,” I said softly.He paused. Not turning. Not answering. Just… pausing. That was worse. He finally spoke. “Stay home today.”A command. Not a request.“Why?”He didn’t answer—again.He simply picked up his coat and walked out the door.And the silence he left behind pressed against my chest until breathing felt difficult.Hours later, I found myself unable to sit still. Every few minutes, I drifted to the windows, peering down at the street below. Something was wrong. I felt it in my bones.And t

The Public ScandalThe screen flickered to life in Emily’s hands, the cold blue light casting eerie shadows on her face as she stared at the headline.“LEON BLACK THREATENS CIVILIANS — VIDEO PROOF.”The words burned like acid in her chest. She tapped her phone screen again, watching the video loop—a carefully edited montage of chaos, twisted to make Leon appear ruthless and dangerous. Crowds running in fear, sirens blaring, a blurry figure moving through the chaos with swift, brutal efficiency. The video cut sharply to a man clutching his chest, gasping for air—implying Leon’s violent hand.Emily’s stomach churned. She knew the truth. That video was a lie.Leon hadn’t harmed anyone innocent.He had protected them.But no one else would see it like that.She set the phone down on the coffee table and stared at the silent room, the heavy hum of the city night pressing in through the windows. Outside, the distant sound of sirens mixed with the restless buzz of neon signs. The city was

The Night VisitEmily’s POVThe drive home was silent.Not tense.Not angry.Just… silent.The kind of silence that filled the entire car, thick enough to choke on. The kind that pressed against my chest like a weight. Leon didn’t speak, didn’t look at me, didn’t demand explanations or shout about the press or Brandon or the chaos spiraling around us.He just drove.One hand on the steering wheel.The other resting tensely on his thigh.His knuckles were white—so white—but his face remained unreadable, sculpted in stone. The headlights cut through the night, casting brief flashes of light over him, each one revealing the faintest trace of exhaustion beneath his eyes. It wasn’t obvious, not to anyone else, but I had learned to notice the small cracks in him.He didn’t ask me why I defended him publicly today. He didn’t ask why I kept stepping in front of danger.He simply drove.And somehow, that silence was more terrifying than his rage. We reached the mansion, and he opened my door b

Brandon EscalatesEmily’s POVThe hallway outside Leon’s office pulsed with tension, like the entire building was holding its breath. Agents moved silently, screens flickered with encrypted feeds, and every shadow felt like someone watching.Leon had been locked in war-room meetings for hours. Shadowline was preparing something big—too big. The kind of thing that swallowed cities whole.I couldn’t sit still. Every time I blinked, I saw flashes of that warehouse. My father’s eyes. Leon’s face. The sniper laser.And the feeling—this horrible, twisting feeling—that all of this was only the beginning.I headed toward the elevator, pretending I had some kind of purpose. But halfway through the hallway, a quiet voice slipped out of the dark:—“Emily.”I froze.Not Leon’s voice.Not cold. Not controlled.Just… familiar.Slowly, I turned.Brandon stepped out from a dim alcove near the emergency exit, hands casually tucked in his pockets, wearing a smile that felt wrong for this moment.“What