Chapter 10 - The New Beginning
Time seemed to stop completely.
Lily did not wait for Victor to react.
She sprinted toward the edge of the roof and threw herself over the side.
She landed painfully on a narrow metal maintenance catwalk just below the roofline.
She reached out wildly into the empty air.
Her fingers grabbed the thick canvas strap of the duffel bag just before it fell into the abyss.
The sheer weight yanked her arm painfully, but she held on tight.
She pulled the bag onto the metal grate and unzipped it.
Baby Ethan was completely safe, crying softly into her chest.
Above them, Victor unleashed his full fury on Serena and her remaining guards.
The sounds of the struggle ended quickly.
Victor climbed down to the catwalk and pulled Lily and his son into a fierce, protective embrace.
He whispered a promise that no one would ever hurt them again.
Serena was handed over to Victor's loyal enforcers to face a very dark, permanent justice.
A week later, peace had finally returned to the Blackwood mansion.
Victor had formally fired his entire compromised security team and hired the best in the world.
He offered Lily a permanent place in their family, not just as a nanny, but as Ethan's legal guardian if anything ever happened to him.
Lily sat in the beautiful, sunlit nursery, rocking Ethan gently to sleep.
She felt truly happy and safe for the first time in her life.
She tucked the warm blanket around the sleeping baby and turned on the nightlight.
As she reached for her new encrypted phone on the dresser, she noticed a black envelope tucked beneath it.
She opened the heavy paper and pulled out a single photograph of herself holding Ethan.
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Scrawled across the back in blood-red ink were the words, "He is my son too."
A cold breeze suddenly swept through the room, and the heavy nursery door clicked shut and locked from the outside.
