CHAPTER 18: TIDES OF BETRAYAL

Adriana’s pistol glinted in the moonlight, the barrel aimed at Stephanie’s swollen belly. “You didn’t really think you could hide from me, did you?” she sneered, her red lips twisting into a smirk. “Leon’s little runaway secretary, playing house in this *pathetic* town.”

Stephanie’s hands shook, but she stepped forward, shielding her stomach. “If you hurt my baby, Leon will destroy you.”

Adriana laughed, the sound sharp as broken glass. “Oh, sweetheart. He’ll thank me. That brat’s the only reason he’s still chasing you.” She cocked the gun. “But don’t worry—I’ll make it quick. For old times’ sake.”

A shadow lunged from the alley. Mia tackled Adriana, knocking the gun into the snow. “*Run, Clara!*” she screamed.

Stephanie stumbled backward as the two women grappled, Adriana’s manicured nails slashing at Mia’s face. The gun lay just inches away. Stephanie dove for it, her fingers brushing cold metal—

*Crack!*

A shot rang out. Mia collapsed, clutching her shoulder.

“*No!*” Stephanie froze, the gun now in her grip.

Adriana scrambled to her feet, blood streaking her cheek. “You’ll pay for that,” she spat, then whistled sharply.

The masked men from the SUVs surged into the alley. Stephanie fired wildly, forcing them back, and grabbed Mia’s uninjured arm. “*Move!*”

---

*Manhattan, New York — Leon’s Penthouse*

Leon stared at the grainy security footage on his screen: Stephanie, disguised in a scarf, boarding Jake’s jet in Maine. His chest tightened. *She looked so scared.*

His investigator’s voice crackled over the speakerphone. “We’ve tracked her to Harbor’s Edge. But there’s more—Adriana’s there too. She’s hired mercenaries.”

Leon’s blood turned to ice. “Send every available man. *Now.*”

“Sir, it’ll take at least four hours—”

“*I don’t care!*” He slammed his fist on the desk. “If she dies, you die with her.”

The line went dead. Leon grabbed his coat and raced for the elevator, his mind replaying Stephanie’s voice from the past: *“Running back to someone who hurt you isn’t strength. It’s fear.”*

*I’m not running,* he vowed. *I’m fighting.*

---

**Harbor’s Edge, Maine — The Storm Shelter**

Stephanie bandaged Mia’s shoulder in the cramped storm cellar beneath the inn. The smell of damp earth and diesel fuel choked the air.

“You should’ve left me,” Mia groaned. “I’m slowing you down.”

“Never.” Stephanie pressed a wad of gauze to the wound. “You saved my life.”

Mia gripped her hand. “Who *are* you, Clara? Or… whatever your real name is?”

Stephanie hesitated. “Someone who trusted the wrong man.”

Footsteps thudded overhead. Both women froze.

“Check the cellar!” a man barked.

Stephanie grabbed the gun and shoved Mia behind a stack of crates. The door creaked open—

*Bang! Bang!*

Two shots. The first man fell. The second returned fire, bullets ricocheting off the stone walls. Stephanie ducked, her ears ringing.

“*Enough!*” Adriana’s voice cut through the chaos. “Stephanie, come out, or I burn this inn to the ground with your friend inside.”

Mia’s eyes widened. “Go. I’ll distract them.”

“*No—*”

“You have a baby to protect.” Mia shoved her toward the cellar’s hidden exit. “*Go!*”

---

**Flashback — Three Years Earlier**

*“You’re late,”* Leon snapped as Stephanie hurried into his office, her hair soaked from rain.

“The subway broke down, and—”

“I don’t pay you for excuses.” He thrust a contract at her. “Sign this. Now.”

She frowned. “What is it?”

“Confidentiality agreement. Standard for all employees.”

Stephanie scanned the fine print, her heart sinking. *Section 4.2: Employee agrees to relinquish all rights to intellectual property, assets, and… offspring?*

“This isn’t standard,” she whispered.

Leon’s gaze hardened. “Sign it, or pack your desk.”

She signed.

*He never loved you,* she realized too late. *He owns you.*

---

Stephanie staggered through the snow, her breath coming in ragged gasps. The gun trembled in her hand. *I can’t do this. I can’t—*

A cramp ripped through her abdomen. She collapsed against a fishing boat, clutching her stomach. *No. Not now. Not here.*

“Stephanie!”

Jake emerged from the shadows, his face bruised, shirt stained with blood.

“Jake?” She sobbed in relief. “They said you were dead—”

“Adriana’s men ambushed me. I barely got away.” He pulled her upright. “There’s a boat waiting. We can still make it.”

Another cramp, sharper this time. She cried out.

Jake paled. “Is it the baby?”

Before she could answer, headlights flooded the docks. Adriana’s SUV skidded to a halt, men spilling out.

“Get to the boat!” Jake pushed her forward, then turned to face the men, a knife in hand. “*Go!*”

Stephanie stumbled toward the pier, tears blurring her vision. The boat was so close—

*Bang!*

A gunshot echoed. She whirled around. Jake slumped to his knees, a red stain spreading across his chest.

“*Jake!*”

Adriana stepped over his body, her smile venomous. “You really think you can outrun me, little mouse?”

Stephanie raised the gun, her finger on the trigger. “Stay back!”

“Or what? You’ll shoot me?” Adriana taunted. “You don’t have the guts.”

The boat’s engine roared to life behind her. Stephanie glanced back—*Leon* stood at the helm, his grey eyes blazing.

“Steph! Jump!” he shouted.

Adriana lunged. Stephanie fired.

Click.

The gun was empty.

Adriana slammed into her, and they plunged into the freezing ocean.

---

Water engulfed Stephanie, the cold paralyzing. Adriana’s hands clamped around her throat, dragging her deeper. Black spots danced in her vision.

Then—a hand grabbed her wrist. *Leon.*

He stabbed Adriana with a dive knife, her scream muffled by the water. Blood clouded the waves as she sank.

Leon hauled Stephanie to the surface. She gasped, her body convulsing.

“Stay with me!” He cradled her against his chest. “I’m sorry—*I’m so sorry*—”

Another cramp tore through her. She looked down.

The water around them bloomed red.

Leon’s grip tightened around Stephanie as he hauled her onto the boat, her body limp and shuddering. The metallic tang of blood mixed with saltwater filled the air. “Stay with me, Steph,” he pleaded, pressing a soaked jacket to the crimson stain blooming across her abdomen. Her eyelids fluttered, her breaths shallow and ragged.

The engine roared as Leon steered the boat toward the shadowy outline of the coast, the storm swallowing Adriana’s body beneath the waves. But the relief was short-lived. Behind them, the growl of another motor pierced the night—Adriana’s men, closing in. Bullets pinged against the hull, splintering fiberglass.

“Hold on!” Leon shouted, veering sharply into a curtain of fog. The world blurred into grey, the pursuers’ shouts muffled. Stephanie groaned, her hands clawing at the boat’s edge. “The baby… *Leon*—”

A contraction ripped through her. Her scream tore through him.

“No, no, *not here*—” Leon’s voice cracked as he knelt beside her, his hands trembling. The boat rocked violently, waves sloshing over the sides. Stephanie’s nails dug into his arm as she panted, her face ghostly pale. “You have to… *push*,” he urged, desperation clawing at his throat.

Minutes stretched into eternity. Then, a cry—sharp and alive—cut through the chaos. Leon cradled the tiny, writhing bundle, tears mingling with seawater. “It’s a girl,” he whispered, pressing the newborn to Stephanie’s chest. Her lips curved weakly, but her eyes dimmed, her skin cold as the night.

“Stephanie? *Stephanie!*” Leon shook her, his voice raw. No response.

A spotlight speared through the fog. A ship loomed ahead, its deck crawling with figures. Leon’s heart stalled. Adriana’s men—*alive, armed, and closing in*. He clutched the baby to his chest, Stephanie’s body slumped against him.

“Drop the kid, Phoenix,” a voice boomed over a megaphone. “Or we sink you.”

Leon’s gaze darted between the ship and the shoreline—a half-mile of icy, churning water. Impossible. The baby wailed, her cries swallowed by the storm.

Then, a new sound: rotors. A helicopter emerged from the clouds, its searchlight blinding. Was it help? Or another enemy?

Leon tightened his grip on his daughter. The boat drifted toward the ship, waves slamming it sideways.

The helicopter descended, its door sliding open. A figure leaned out—*Jake*, bloodied but alive, arm outstretched. “Grab on!”

Leon hesitated. The ship’s crew raised rifles. The helicopter’s ladder swung inches from his grasp.

Leon lunged for the ladder, the baby clutched to his chest. A gunshot echoed.

Whose blood stained the waves now?*