Yours, Not Contracted

CHAPTER 10- TOO LATE

Nathan's words hung heavily in the air.

"They're already inside the building."

For a split second, nobody moved.

Aria's heartbeat hammered painfully against her chest as she struggled to process what she'd just heard.

"What do you mean..." she asked, her voice trembling. "Inside the building?"

Nathan turned the tablet toward Adrian. The live security feed had gone black. In its place was a blinking message.

SIGNAL LOST.

"Our surveillance team lost access three minutes ago," Nathan explained. "The cameras outside Miss Monroe's apartment were disabled one after another."

Aria felt the strength leave her legs.

"My apartment..."

Her mind raced.

Her family photographs.

Her belongings.

Her little brother......

The small apartment she'd worked so hard to afford.

Everything was there.

"What if..." she whispered, "what if someone's inside my home?"

The thought made her stomach churn.

Adrian's expression remained unreadable, but the dangerous look in his eyes deepened.

"Nathan."

"Yes, sir."

"Get the car."

"It's already waiting downstairs."

"Good."

Nathan turned to leave.

"And Nathan..."

He stopped.

"Call the rest of the security team."

Nathan frowned slightly.

"Sir, should I deploy the executive unit?"

Adrian didn't hesitate.

"All of them."

Nathan's eyes widened.

The executive unit was reserved for high-level emergencies.

They had only been deployed twice in the company's history.

"Immediately."

"Yes, sir."

Nathan hurried out of the office.

The heavy wooden door closed behind him, leaving Adrian and Aria alone.

The silence was almost unbearable.

Aria stared blankly at the floor.

Nothing made sense anymore.

Only yesterday, her biggest concern had been finding a stable job.

Now...

Someone knew where she lived.

Someone had broken into her building.

Someone was watching her.

She laughed softly.

A broken, humorless laugh.

Adrian looked at her.

"What's funny?"

She shook her head.

"My life."

He waited.

"It feels like someone else's."

She looked around the luxurious office.

The expensive artwork.

The floor-to-ceiling windows.

The city stretching endlessly beyond the glass.

"This isn't where people like me belong."

Adrian slowly approached her.

"And what kind of people are you?"

She smiled bitterly.

"The kind who count every naira before buying groceries."

"The kind who worry about rent every month."

"The kind who don't have men in suits protecting them."

She looked up at him.

"I don't belong in your world."

For the first time since they'd met...

Adrian didn't respond immediately.

Instead, he studied her quietly.

"You think I was born into this?"

Aria frowned.

"Weren't you?"

A faint smile touched his lips.

"My father built Blackwell Holdings."

"But he also built enemies."

His gaze drifted toward the city outside.

"I was twenty-one when I attended my first board meeting."

"They tried to remove me before I even sat down."

Aria remained silent.

"They underestimated me."

His voice became colder.

"They never made that mistake again."

She had never heard him talk about himself before.

Not like this.

For a brief moment...

He didn't sound like the untouchable billionaire everyone feared.

He sounded...

Human.

Before she could say anything, Adrian's phone vibrated.

Nathan.

Adrian answered immediately.

"We're on our way."

A pause.

His jaw tightened.

"What?"

Aria watched the color slowly drain from Nathan's face through the phone call alone.

When Adrian finally lowered the phone, the office seemed colder.

"What happened?" she asked.

"They searched your apartment."

Her breath caught.

"They didn't steal anything."

"Then... what were they looking for?"

Adrian looked directly into her eyes.

"That's what worries me."

"If they didn't come to rob you..."

"They came looking for something."

Aria searched her memory.

She owned nothing valuable.

An old laptop.

A few pieces of jewelry.

Some documents.

Nothing worth risking a break-in.

"I don't understand."

Neither did Adrian.

Which meant whoever was behind this knew something...

Something Aria herself didn't.

His phone buzzed again.

This time it was a message.

Nathan had sent a photograph.

Adrian enlarged it.

His expression darkened instantly.

"What is it?" Aria asked.

He turned the phone toward her.

The photograph showed the door to her apartment.

Someone had painted a single symbol across it in bright red paint.

Not words.

Not numbers.

Just a strange symbol.

Aria frowned.

"I've never seen that before."

Adrian had.

Years ago.

During one of the darkest periods of Blackwell Holdings.

A symbol he had hoped never to see again.

He locked the phone without another word.

"What does it mean?" Aria pressed.

He slipped the phone back into his pocket.

"It means..."

His voice dropped to a near whisper.

"This has become much bigger than either of us expected."

A sharp knock interrupted them.

Nathan pushed the office door open.

"The convoy is ready, sir."

Adrian nodded.

He looked at Aria.

"We're leaving."

She hesitated.

"I don't have a choice, do I?"

"No."

For the first time...

She didn't argue.

As they stepped out of the office, every employee on the executive floor lowered their heads respectfully.

No one spoke.

No one even dared look directly at Adrian.

The private elevator doors slid open.

Adrian gestured for Aria to enter first.

She stepped inside.

Nathan followed.

The doors began to close.

Just before they shut completely...

A figure appeared at the far end of the corridor.

Standing perfectly still.

Watching them.

The person's face was hidden beneath a black cap.

But one thing was unmistakable.

They slowly smiled.

The elevator doors closed.

Aria never saw the smile.

Adrian did.

And for the first time that day...

A feeling he hadn't experienced in years settled deep inside him.

Someone wasn't just watching Aria.

They were challenging him.

The elevator reached the underground parking garage with a soft ding.

The doors slid open.

Nathan stepped out first, scanning every corner before signaling that it was clear.

Adrian placed one hand lightly against Aria's back.

"Stay close."

She wanted to protest.

She really did.

But after everything she'd heard in the last thirty minutes, the words refused to come.

The convoy of black SUVs waited with their engines already running.

Just as they were about to get inside, one of Adrian's security men shouted.

"Sir! Down!"

Everything happened at once.

A deafening gunshot echoed through the parking garage.

The windshield of the first SUV exploded into thousands of tiny glass fragments.

Aria screamed instinctively.

Before she could react, Adrian wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against his chest.

The force sent both of them crashing behind a concrete pillar.

Another gunshot rang out.

Then another.

Nathan immediately drew his weapon.

"Protect Mr. Blackwell!"

The parking garage erupted into chaos.

Aria's ears rang.

Her entire body trembled violently.

She had never been this close to death.

She clutched Adrian's shirt without realizing it.

He glanced down at her frightened face for only a second before looking back toward the gunfire.

His jaw hardened.

"They're not here for me."

Nathan looked over, confused.

"What?"

Adrian's eyes narrowed as another bullet struck the pillar inches from where Aria was hiding.

"They're here..."

He looked straight at Aria.

"...for her.”