The wind cut through Alicia's coat like glass as she stood outside her apartment building. She hadn't moved in minutes. Her hands were trembling—not from the cold, but from the message still lighting up her phone.
Unknown Contact: You made the wrong choice, Alicia Morgan. And now everyone will pay.
She'd thought her life was spiraling before. Now it felt like a free fall.
She opened her contacts and hovered her thumb over Dominic's number. She didn't know whether to scream at him or run to him.
She did neither.
Instead, she turned and walked back inside.
Inside her apartment, Alicia packed a small bag. She wasn't running. Not exactly.
She just needed space to think. A place where no one knew her name. Where no one could whisper about the scandal to come.
She left a short note on the kitchen table.
"I need air. Don't follow me. – A"
Dominic stood in the hallway of Alicia's apartment barely thirty minutes later, holding her note like it was a loaded weapon.
She was gone.
And he'd let her go once already.
He wasn't going to do it again.
His jaw tightened. "Liam," he barked into his phone. "Find her. Now."
Alicia drove aimlessly until the roads gave way to ocean. She parked at a small beachside inn far from the city lights. The waves crashed loudly outside the window as she curled up in a chair, hands wrapped around a warm cup of tea.
Her thoughts were a mess of emotion.
Her mother's warning.
Dominic's protection.
Her unborn child.
A knock on the door startled her.
She opened it slowly, expecting maybe the innkeeper.
Instead, it was him.
Dominic stood there, soaked by the ocean mist, hair tousled, eyes burning.
"I told you not to follow me," she whispered.
He stepped inside anyway.
"I told you I wouldn't let you go again."
Silence stretched between them. Tension. Pain. Longing.
"You don't get to make that decision for me," she said.
"No. But I get to fight for it," he answered. "Alicia, someone is threatening you. I don't care what happened between us that night—this child is real. And I care."
Tears filled her eyes. "You didn't want this."
"I didn't plan it," he corrected. "But maybe I needed it. You shook something loose in me I thought was dead."
She shook her head. "That's not enough."
He took a step closer. "Then tell me what is. I'll give it to you. Anything. Everything."
She wanted to believe him. God, she wanted to fall into him and never look back.
But the fear… the betrayal… her family's silence…
"You can't fix this with money or protection, Dominic. You can't control everything," she said. "If you stay in my life, you have to be in it. Not just when it's convenient."
"I know," he said. "That's why I brought this."
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a slim envelope.
Alicia took it cautiously and opened it.
Inside was a prenatal appointment confirmation. For two. With his name already signed.
Her breath caught.
"I want to be part of this. From the beginning," he said. "You said I didn't know you. You're right. So let me. Let me learn you."
She looked up at him.
And for the first time, she saw not just the billionaire.
But the man behind the shield.
She nodded.
A little.
Just once.
The next morning, Alicia returned to the city with Dominic. They agreed to keep everything quiet for now. Her family still didn't know. Neither did the board.
But the news didn't wait for permission.
At exactly 10 a.m., a headline exploded across the financial networks.
"Dominic Kael Implicated in Corporate Espionage — Mysterious Woman Connected"
Her face was blurred in the attached photo, but the shape of her body, the coat she wore—it was all too familiar.
Alicia's phone rang. Her boss. Her sister. Reporters. Her past clawing to life.
She turned to Dominic. "What have you done?"
He looked just as shocked. "It's not me. Someone else leaked it. This is bigger than I thought."
She backed away. "I can't do this. I told you I didn't want the spotlight."
"And I told you I'd protect you."
"Maybe I don't need protection. Maybe I just need distance."
He grabbed her hand, gently. "Then leave. But know this: whoever did this isn't after me. They're after you. Because of who you are. Because of what you carry."
Her hand trembled.
Because deep down, she already knew that.
That night, Alicia sat alone in her room as another message came in.
Unknown Contact: Run all you want. He'll betray you like they all do. Blood doesn't lie.
This time, she didn't cry.
She didn't panic.
She copied the number, sent it to herself, and stood.
If someone wanted war, they were about to meet a woman who had nothing left to lose—and a child to protect.
She was done running.