Evelyn’s POV
The playroom incident hadn’t gotten under my skin as much as it might’ve before. Yeah, there’d been a montary flutter when Calvin caught , but I wasn’t about to let myself spiral back into that emotional chaos. I had way more important stuff to focus on.
After the livestream went viral, patients seeking treatnt at Evelink Biosciences had increased dramatically. Despite our insanely strict acceptance criteria, the waiting list kept growing longer every single day.
Even those people I’d t with Astrid Vale at Lakeside Resort were now pestering Astrid’s cousin for my contact information. Astrid herself had called earlier, pretty much insisting that Alexis and I attend her movie premiere once filming wrapped up.
When I received an invitation to Silas Robinson’s birthday celebration, I wasn’t particularly surprised.
So ti ago, Silas Robinson had approached one of my research scientists at Evelink Biosciences, offering ten tis the market rate for Leon’s treatnt. And after hearing from Astrid that Leon had been hospitalized, I’d visited him twice. During one of those visits, I’d run into Silas Robinson himself.
I’d introduced myself simply as Leon’s forr classmate, and the old man hadn’t pressed for details. But now he was directly inviting the head of Evelink Biosciences to his celebration, which ant he’d clearly done his howork about who I was.
The event was scheduled for two weeks out.
Before that, however, I’d received a call from Alpha Gregory, inviting and the children back to the Bloodbane Pack house for dinner. He’d actually apologized for Diana’s behavior, calling it "totally unacceptable," and asked not to hold it against the pack.
Reading between the lines of his seemingly friendly invitation, his aning was clear: the twins were Bloodbane Pack Alpha heirs, and keeping them away from pack territory for extended periods "wasn’t ideal." Translation: if I wanted custody of my sons, I’d have to fight the entire pack.
Just what I needed. More problems.
After careful consideration, I decided to take the boys to dinner. But for safety’s sake, I left Alexis at ho.
When Rowan and Rhys learned they were going back to the pack house for dinner, they couldn’t hide their excitent.
I’d expected Alexis to throw a tantrum when told she wasn’t going, and had prepared several ways to comfort her. To my surprise, my daughter nodded with unusual maturity, kissed my cheek, and went off with her nanny without complaint.
My sweet, understanding little girl.
The boys looked a bit disappointed about leaving their sister behind.
Before we left, they gave Alexis all their new toys and promised to bring her back strawberry pudding made by the pack house chef.
"Mommy, I’ll get your purse," Rhys said, following around.
Since spending more ti with , he’d grown increasingly attached, sotis mimicking Alexis’s ways of showing affection. It ward my heart to see this side of him.
I gently stroked his face. "Thank you, Rhys."
anwhile, Rowan was carefully packing the sheet music for the piano duet he and his brother had been practicing, eager to show Alpha Gregory their progress.
Our convoy had security vehicles both in front and behind us.
The Bloodbane Pack house sprawled across thousands of acres nestled between several famous mountains on the outskirts of Ravenshade. Getting there required driving along a winding road through dense forest for quite so ti.
Calvin called to check on our progress just as we were entering the wooded area.
We estimated we were still about thirty minutes away.
As I was about to hang up, all hell broke loose.
From the darkness of the surrounding forest, multiple vehicles suddenly erged, surrounding us from all sides. This was clearly a planned ambush.
Calvin heard the children’s frightened cries through the phone. "What’s happening?" His voice sharpened with alarm.
"There are more than a dozen cars waiting in ambush along the mountain road," I replied urgently.
I could feel his tension through the phone. "I’m on my way. I’ve already contacted the pack house to send backup. Stay safe, no matter wh—"
The call cut off as my phone clattered to the floor.
I had no ti to retrieve it. My priority was calming my sons while signaling the driver to back up.
Through the darkness, I could make out Liri Johnson in the driver’s seat of the lead black car, her face twisted into a malevolent smile.
"Evelyn, I’m coming for you and your brats tonight!" she shouted.
The mont I saw Liri, I understood this was about revenge. Jackson had kept updated on her situation.
Liri Johnson’s life had recently fallen apart: her father was hospitalized, Summit Industries’ stock had plumted, and their projects were failing one after another. The board was moving to remove her father from his chairman position.
Jackson had offered to "take care of" Liri permanently, but I’d refused, believing she no longer posed a serious threat. Clearly, I’d underestimated her desperation, she’d spent every penny she had left hiring these rcenary rogues.
"You’ve only got twenty n! My hundred will tear them apart!" she scread, slamming her foot on the accelerator and aiming straight for our vehicle.
Rowan and Rhys watched in horror, crying out, "Mommy! That car’s coming right at us!"
I imdiately covered their eyes. "Don’t be afraid. Mommy’s here."
Our car was protected in the center of the convoy.
We had over twenty guards between the front and rear vehicles. I’d thought this would be sufficient within Ravenshade, but I never imagined Liri would be this reckless.
My eyes darkened as I assessed our situation.
No matter how skilled the Bloodbane warriors and my personal security were, they were outnumbered by the rogues surrounding us. Worse still, our attackers had firearms.
The silenced weapons made little noise, but as I watched my security team falling one by one, my heart climbed into my throat. The boys, though terrified, were bravely fighting back tears.
It was clear that Liri wanted dead more than she wanted the children.
Ti was ticking away.
The confrontation had reached its peak intensity.
Eryx approached with a plan for getting us through their blockade.
"I can create a diversion," he said. "You can escape while they’re distracted."
"No, I’ll be the bait instead," I suggested. "When Liri sees , she’ll definitely co after . That’s when you take the children and get out."
Eryx looked stunned and imdiately rejected my plan. "Absolutely not. I won’t agree to that. I’m supposed to protect you - I’m not leaving you behind to run away."
I shook my head firmly. "I don’t need your protection. Just make sure my children get out safely."
His jaw tightened. "My duty is to protect you, Evelyn."
"And my duty is to protect my children," I countered, my tone leaving no room for argunt.
After a mont of tension, Eryx finally nodded in agreent.
My phone remained lost sowhere under the front seat, but retrieving it was the least of my concerns.
Facing what might be our last monts together, I kissed both my sons’ cheeks.
"Rowan, Rhys, listen carefully," I whispered, fighting to keep my voice steady. "I’m going to get you to another car. Your father will be here soon..."
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