Mia heard the knock on the door just after eight in the evening.
The sound was firm and deliberate, not the hesitant tap of a neighbor or the casual knock of a delivery person. It echoed through the small apartment, cutting through the quiet hum of the television and the soft clatter of dishes in the kitchen. Mia wasn't expecting anyone. She had spent the entire day trying to ignore the message on her phone, the one that had arrived like a blade in the darkness, and she had failed completely.
She was sitting on the couch, her legs curled beneath her, staring at the screen as if the words might rearrange themselves into something less threatening.
Congratulations, Mia. Adrian Blackwood will be very interested to hear about his heir.
The message had come from an unknown number. She had t
