The Billionaire's Secret Heiress

XIAO'S POV "Xiao! Faster!” Nolan shouted behind me. “Run Xiao, don't let them get close to you.” I knew any moment from now I could get caught up with, so I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. The rain hit my face like tiny needles as I ran for my life. My chest was hurting, my legs burned from the pressure of running. But that didn't stop me. I’m trying!” I yelled back, my voice shaking. The streets were dark and slippery. Water splashed under my feet as I turned into another narrow alley, my heart pounded so loud I could hear it in my ears. They were still behind us. I could hear their footsteps. They were filled with so much anger, they were getting closer to us now. “Don’t let them catch you!” Nolan said again. “I’m scared, Nolan," I said, already running out of breath. I grabbed his hand and pulled him with me. He stumbled but kept running. We had done this before. Running was nothing new to us. But this time felt different. This time…. They weren’t just chasing us. They were hunting us. **************** It all started just a few minutes ago. We weren’t supposed to steal tonight. Nolan asked me to wait, he said the streets felt strange. But I saw the man. He was rich I could tell from his clothes. He had clean shoes, and an expensive watch. He didn’t belong here. People like him never notice kids like us. That’s why I went for it. “Xiao, don’t,” Nolan whispered. “It’s easy, relax,” I whispered back. “Just watch me.” I slipped through the crowd like I always did quietly, fast and invisible. I got close to the man. Closer and closer…. Then…. Before he could make a move I took it. His wallet. Smooth, quick and perfect. As I turned to leave, a loud voice came from behind me. “HEY!” My heart dropped, the man grabbed me by my wrist. “You little thief!" I panicked immediately. I twisted my hand and kicked his leg. He let go with a shout and I began to run quickly. “Nolan!” I yelled. He was already moving, and we ran together, pushing past people, turning corners and not looking back. At first, it felt normal like every other time. But then more voices joined, more footsteps, they were becoming too many. And that's when I knew….. Something was wrong. “To your left!” I signalled Nolan. We turned sharply, Nolan slipped but caught himself swiftly. “Are you okay?” I asked quickly. “Yeah, just keep going!” He said breathing hard. I nodded, then we ran deeper into the alley. But the sound behind us didn't stop. If anything, it got pretty louder. “Why are there so many of them?” Nolan asked. “I seriously don't know.” We never had this many people chase us before. Usually, it was just one or two angry people. Not this. This felt like a whole gang. And a dangerous one at that. I could hear them shouting now. “Split up!” “No, stay together!” “Don't lose her!” Her? What do you mean, her? It's two of us but why me? My stomach twisted. “Did you hear that?” I asked. “Yeah,” Nolan said. “They said her.” We both went quiet, even while running, I could feel it. Something was wrong. Very wrong but there was no time to think about it. We reached the end of the alley which was a dead end. My chest tightened, “No…. No, no” I whispered. “Xiao….” Nolan started. “Climb now!” I said quickly, pointing at the wall. It was tall, but not impossible to reach for it. We had climbed worse in the past. I jumped first, grabbing the edge with both of my hands. My fingers slipped, but I held on. “Keep going! Don't stop” Nolan said. He climbed up beside me, then pulled himself over. I followed right after him. We dropped down on the other side and my knees hit the ground hard. The pain shot through my legs. But I got up. There was no time to dull, these guys could catch up with us any moment now. We kept running till I finally heard it. A sharp sound, like something hitting the flesh, “Arghhhh!” I turned sharply. “NOLAN!” I screamed, he fell to the ground. There was blood on his leg, my heart stopped. “No, no, no!” I ran back to him. “I'm fine,” he said quickly, trying to stand. But he couldn't. “Shut up! You're nothing close to being fine.” Tears were already forming in my eyes. I wasn't going to leave him in this state. I didn't care if the bad guys were going to catch up or not, but I'm not losing Nolan. “They threw something,” he said, breathing fast. “Just help me up.” I wrapped his arms around my shoulder, he was quite heavy but I didn't care. I pulled him up. “We have to move now nolly,” I said, making sure to support his movements. “They're coming.” And they were closer than ever I could hear them… we limped forward together, our steps felt slow and short. And I knew we couldn't keep up with this, we had to hide and fast. “Leave me,” Nolan said suddenly. I froze. “Are you dumb?” “Just go, please!” He said. “You're faster without me.” “Yo listen, I'm not leaving this place without you and that's final.” “Xiao…..” “I said No! We stay together.” I tightened my grip on him. “We always stay together.” He looked at me. For a second, he didn't say anything. Then he nodded and accepted defeat. “Okay let's move.” He said softly. We turned into another alley. This one was darker and quieter. I looked around quickly and I spotted a broken wall. “Let's hide in there,” I whispered. We moved behind it and crouched down. I pressed my hand over Nolan's mouth gently to prevent them from hearing his hard breathing. “Don't make a single sound,” I whispered. He nodded affirmatively. My heart rate began increasing quickly. I could hear everything now, the rain, their footsteps and how close they were getting. Then….. Suddenly…. They stopped right outside the alley. I held my breath even tighter now. Please…. Go away, please. But they didn't, I heard voices. They talked in low tunes and seemed pretty angry. “Where did they go?” “They were just here!” “Dumbass! Don't you see they aren't here anymore? Spread out everyone. Now!” My fingers tightened. I didn't move an inch, I didn't even blink. Then one of them said something that made my whole body go cold. “The boss said she must not escape.” She again? They were talking about me. But why? I didn't understand, I didn't know them, I had never seen them before. So why? “Search everywhere,” one of the guys said. “We can’t lose her.” My heart pounded harder, Nolan looked at me. His eyes were full of fear. I had never seen him like that before. Not even on the worst days. Something was very wrong. Now their footsteps were coming closer and I slowly pulled Nolan deeper behind the wall. The space was small. If they looked this way, they would see us. So I closed my eyes for a second. Think, Xiao. Think. Running won’t work. Hiding isn't even working. So what? Just then a shadow moved right in front of us. I froze. Someone was standing on the other side of the wall. I could see his shoes. They were big and heavy. He didn’t move, not yet at least. Then….. Another voice came. It was closer and clearer. “Don’t let her escape.” “She’s worth millions of dollars.” I didn’t understand. Money? Why me? What did I do? I held Nolan tighter, my hands were shaking already. For the first time in a long time….. I was scared. Of not just being caught but of something way worse. Something I didn’t understand and something I couldn’t see. The man’s shoes shifted. He was turning now. Turning toward us. I grabbed Nolan’s hand and my breath caught in my throat. If he looked here….. he would see us. The shadow moved closer to us and I knew we were about to be found. I squeezed my eyes shut. Don’t move, don’t breathe, don't even make a sound. But deep i nside me…. Something whispered. This wasn’t just a chase or bad luck. It was something else. Something big and huge, waiting somewhere. And somehow….. It was all about me.