Chapter 136

Kai POV

I didn’t tell Nova about the nightmares that started that night.

In them, I was back in that parking lot thirteen years ago. Gun pointed at my chest. But this time, Elena stood beside me—not as an unborn baby safely inside Nova, but as the thirteen-year-old girl she was now. And when Darren pulled the trigger, the bullet went through me and into her.

I woke up at four AM, sweating, the scar on my chest burning like it was fresh.

Nova slept beside me, finally exhausted enough to rest. I didn’t wake her. Instead, I went to my office and pulled up the security footage I’d had installed around our house.

Nothing. Empty street. Quiet neighborhood.

But I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching.

I opened my laptop and started mapping. Darren’s foundation office. Elena’s school. Our house. The studio. The gala venue.

Everything was too close. Too convenient.

My phone buzzed at five AM. Marcus, our lawyer.