Chapter 5 Shadows from the Past

The night swallowed sleep.

I paced my office, the skyline a blur beyond the glass. The city glittered below, but none of it soothed the storm inside me. I had Isabella and Liam under my roof-but it didn't feel like I had them at all.

Liam was resting in the guest suite, tucked under white cotton sheets while soft monitors watched his vitals. Isabella hadn't spoken to me again after retreating behind that guest room door. Her silence screamed louder than words.

But that wasn't what kept me awake.

It was the message I received an hour after they arrived. A message that seems has a threat to my wellbeing.

A simple envelope slipped under my door. No name. No address. No footprints on the hallway security feed.

Just a single sentence on thick paper.

"You think you can hide the boy from blood?"

I was deep in shock, frizzed, my teeth clapping against each other.

I stared at the note again, my jaw clenched so tight my teeth hurt.

They knew.

Someone out there... knew Liam was mine.

So now I have a lot to protect, my son's and my empire.

And I keep on being in shock..

And if they knew that, then they likely knew what it meant-what he meant.

My son wasn't just any child. He was the heir to my bloodline... and my enemies had been waiting for a weakness like this.

Before they will strike and now they have gotten one.

Not just any but " Liam, my son."

I sank into the leather chair behind my desk, gripping the edges like I could hold the whole world still. For years, I'd guarded my company, my reputation, my fortune like a fortress.

But I'd left the most important thing vulnerable without even knowing it.

My son.

And now the wolves were circling.

---

The next morning came too fast. I barely noticed the sun rise over the city until I heard soft footsteps behind me.

"Did you stay up all night?"

Isabella stood at the doorway, her arms crossed, still in one of the silk robes the housekeeper laid out.

She looked tired. Defensive. And beautiful in a way that made my chest ache.

"I had work," I said simply, setting the note face down on the desk before she could see.

She walked in slowly, eyeing me with suspicion. "Work that makes your hands tremble?"

I hadn't noticed until she pointed it out. I curled them into fists.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

What's it she asked, stepping closer, but there was still a wall between us. Not physical-but emotional. That invisible barrier she'd built ever since I broke her heart three years ago.

"Is Liam okay?" I asked.

She nodded. "He slept better than he has in weeks. Your doctors are thorough."

I exhaled a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"Good."

"I saw the way you looked at him last night," she said, her voice softer now. "Like you wanted to make up for everything in one breath."

I didn't deny it.

"Because I do," I replied. "I missed three years. I can't undo that, Isabella. But I'll spend the rest of my life making it right if I have to."

Her lips parted slightly, but the reply never came.

Instead, her eyes flicked to my desk. "What was that envelope?"

I paused.

I tried pushing it down the desk but she was too sharp.

To observant.

"It was nothing," I lied.

"Micheal," she warned, narrowing her eyes. "Don't do that. Don't hide things from me again. If there's something you're not telling me-especially if it involves Liam-then I deserve to know."

I stared at her for a long second.

Then I finally picked up the envelope and handed it over.

She opened it and read the message.

Her face paled.

Her hand tightened on the edge of the paper.

"You think this is... who? A rival?"

"Maybe." I stood up slowly. "There are people who want what I have. Some of them have waited years to see me bleed. I've made enemies, Bella. More than I care to count."

She looked down at the message again. "You think they'll hurt Liam?"

That was the question keeping me up at night. That I could sleep over, it kept on display on my face any time I try to sleep last night.

And I didn't have an answer.

But I couldn't show fear-not now.

"No one will lay a finger on him," I said, my voice like ice. "Not while I'm breathing."

Her eyes shimmered, and she looked away. "This is why I didn't tell you, Micheal. This is the world you live in-dangerous, cutthroat. I didn't want Liam to get caught up in it."

"I didn't choose this life for him either," I said, my voice breaking slightly. "But he's mine, Isabella. That makes him a target... but it also makes him protected. Because now he has me."

She stepped back, her body shaking slightly as she clutched the robe tighter around her. "We shouldn't have come."

I moved toward her, slowly. "Don't say that."

"We were safer in our old life. Poor, yes. Struggling, yes. But safe. This? This world of threats and shadows-it's not for a child."

"It's not forever," I said. "Just until I find out who's behind that note. Until I shut them down."

"How?" she demanded. "With money? Lawyers? Guns?"

"With everything I have," I said.

And I meant it.

Whatever shadows were out there, whatever wolves were watching from the dark, I would burn the world down before letting them take what was mine.

Especially now that I knew what was truly at stake.

---

Later that day, while Isabella bathed Liam and the doctors prepared his new treatment plan, I met with my private security chief, Marcus Lane.

He slammed a dossier on my desk.

"Found something you'll want to see," he said.

I opened it-and my stomach dropped.

Surveillance photos.

From weeks ago.

Isabella walked Liam home from daycare.

A man in the background.

Same man. Multiple angles. Always watching.

Same trench coat. Same silver ring.

I knew that ring.

It belonged to Victor Kael.

My father's old rival. A man who once vowed to destroy my family "not with war, but with rot."

And I'd forgotten about him.

Until now.

I clenched my jaw, blood thudding in my ears.

"Track him," I ordered Marcus. "I want eyes on him every second of every day. If he even thinks about coming near them..."

"I understand," Marcus said, his tone dark.

As he turned to leave, I looked down at one last photo-Kael standing outside the daycare, staring at Liam with a twisted smile.

And for the first time in my life, I felt something deeper than fear. And something bigger than being defected.

I felt rage.

No man born of a woman is taking my son away from me.

Not again.

Not while I still breathe.