THE BILLIONAIRE’S HIDDEN HEIR

Psychological warfare

Calla Monroe’s POV

The silence after his last words was worse than the knocking.

I stood there, back pressed against the door, heart pounding in my chest. Every sound of the night felt amplified—the hum of the fridge, the ticking clock, even Lucas’s soft breaths from the bedroom.

Damian hadn’t left.

I could feel him on the other side, a shadow waiting, feeding on my fear.

Minutes stretched like hours. My fingers ached from clutching the doorframe so tightly, but I didn’t dare move. If I shifted, if I let my guard down, the chain might not be enough.

Then came the scrape.

Metal against metal. My breath hitched as I realized what it was. He was testing the lock. Slowly, methodically, as if he had all the time in the world.

“You’ve always been stubborn,” his voice slid through the crack, smooth and venomous. “But stubbornness only makes me more determined.”

I shut my eyes, pressing my lips together to keep from answering. I couldn’t let him hear me crack.

“You think this door protects you? You think distance does?” His laugh was soft, chilling. “Calla, I built empires tearing down walls stronger than this. If I want in, I will get in.”

The scrape stopped. Silence again.

I leaned forward slightly, straining to hear.

A shift of footsteps. Then—closer—his words, almost a whisper against the wood.

“And when I do… you’ll wish you’d opened it yourself.”

I stumbled back, hands shaking. He wasn’t bluffing. Damian Vale never bluffed.

I rushed to the window, pulling the curtains just enough to peek outside. The street was empty, bathed in the pale glow of a flickering streetlamp. No figure. No shadow. No Damian.

But I knew he was still there. Watching.

Waiting.

My legs threatened to give out beneath me. I wanted to scream, to cry, to do anything but stand here drowning in dread. Instead, I turned and hurried to Lucas’s room.

He was still asleep, thumb tucked under his cheek. His little face was peaceful, untouched by the nightmares clawing at me. I knelt beside his bed, brushing my fingers over his hair, whispering a promise I wasn’t sure I could keep.

“I won’t let him take you. I swear, I won’t.”

But even as the words left me, the truth gnawed inside me.

Damian had found us.

And this time, there was no running.