Chapter 23 - The Schoolyard Interception
The very next morning, the nightmare escalated from a threat into a reality.
I was waiting in the armored SUV outside the boys' prestigious private academy.
The dismissal bell had just rung, and a sea of children flooded the courtyard.
I usually stood by the wrought-iron gates to greet them, flanked by two plainclothes security guards.
As I scanned the crowd for Evan's familiar dark hair, my eyes caught a flash of crimson red.
A woman in a stunning red designer coat was walking purposefully toward the elementary school doors.
She had sleek blonde hair, oversized sunglasses, and a predatory grace that made my stomach churn.
I didn't need a photograph to know exactly who she was.
"Rhodes, target moving on the east lawn," I barked into my earpiece, already sprinting across the pavement.
"Intercepting now."
I pushed through the crowd of chatting parents and oblivious children.
Victoria was twenty feet away from Caleb and Noah, who were walking out of the building together.
She took off her sunglasses, her cold blue eyes locking onto her sons.
"Caleb!" Victoria called out, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness.
Caleb stopped, his nine-year-old brain struggling to process the face he hadn't seen since he was four.
Before she could take another step toward them, I threw myself directly into her path.
I stood tall, blocking her view of the boys entirely.
"Can I help you?" I asked, my voice dangerously calm.
Victoria looked me up and down, a sneer twisting her perfectly painted lips.
"You must be the new help," she mocked, crossing her arms.
"Move out of the way, little girl, I am here to see my children."
"Your children are dead to you," I replied without blinking.
"Just like you are dead to them."
Victoria's eyes narrowed, the elegant mask slipping to reveal the viper underneath.
"I have biological rights, and I have lawyers," she hissed quietly.
"I can take everything from him, including them."
"Try it," I challenged, stepping half an inch closer to her face.
"You faked your death to escape a war, and now you want to come back for the spoils."
"I am the mother in this family now, and I do not lose."
Behind me, Rhodes and three heavily armed guards materialized out of the crowd.
Victoria looked at the guns hidden beneath their jackets, then smiled a chilling, entirely confident smile.
"Tell Adrian I want fifty million and the downtown territory," she whispered.
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"Or I take the boys."
She turned on her designer heel and walked away, leaving me shaking with adrenaline.
