Cambria stared at the phone in her hand long after the call ended. The child's voice shaky, innocent echoed through her mind, louder than any threat Julian had ever made.
"I think… I think Julian is my daddy."
The line had gone dead, but the damage was done.
It changed everything.
Julian wasn't just Elena's weapon. He was now something far more dangerous: a father with something to protect.
Cambria moved quickly, forwarding the call details to Elara, demanding a trace. Within minutes, they had a location Midtown. A shelter. Under an alias.
Elara was already throwing on her jacket. "You think it's real?"
Cambria's face was stone. "It doesn't matter. If there's a child involved, we make sure they're safe. No matter who they belong to."
The shelter sat in the shadow of a rusted fire escape, its doors worn from years of use. Cambria stepped inside, her presence like static in the air power wrapped in humility.
A woman at the front desk looked up, startled. "Miss… King?"
Cambria nodded, voice low. "I need to speak with the boy who called this number."
The woman's face softened. "You mean Toby."
The name hit her like a brick.
"He's six," the woman added. "Came in with his mother a few weeks ago. Won't talk to anyone. Until today."
Cambria followed her through the quiet hallways to a playroom.
Toby sat on the floor, small and thin, building towers out of wooden blocks.
When he saw her, his eyes widened.
"You're real," he whispered.
Cambria knelt slowly, heart pounding. "I am."
"Mommy showed me your picture," he said. "Said you were scary, but… you looked sad."
Cambria blinked hard. "Where is your mommy now, Toby?"
He pointed to a corner. A woman sat slumped in a chair, arms wrapped around herself. Bruised. Fragile.
Cambria recognized her instantly. One of Julian's former assistants. She'd vanished a year ago after a financial scandal. Elena had claimed she "relocated to Europe."
But she hadn't. She'd been hiding. And now… she had Julian's child.
Toby tugged at Cambria's sleeve. "Don't let them take me."
Cambria leaned down, gently brushing the boy's curls. "No one's taking you, okay? I promise."
Back at the safehouse, Elara processed the news in silence.
"So Julian has a kid."
Cambria nodded. "And he doesn't know. Or worse he does, and he's using them as bait."
"What are you going to do?"
Cambria looked out the window. "I'm going to protect that child. Even if it means protecting Julian."
Elara blinked. "You can't be serious."
"I am. This war stopped being about revenge the moment that boy called me."
"And if it costs you your crown?"
Cambria turned. "Then it was never mine to begin with."
Later that evening, Maddox arrived, tension in his jaw.
"I saw the video. The one you released. It's working. Public opinion is shifting. Elena's name is mud."
Cambria nodded, distracted.
"But that's not why I'm here," he added.
She looked up.
"I went to see Julian."
Cambria's stomach dropped. "What?"
"I confronted him. Told him I knew about the kid. He didn't deny it."
Cambria stepped closer. "Did he threaten the boy?"
"No," Maddox said. "He didn't even flinch. That's what scared me. He's numb, Cambria. Like he's too far gone."
Cambria's voice broke. "Then we protect the child ourselves."
Maddox hesitated. "What if that makes him retaliate harder?"
"Then let him," she said. "I'm not playing defense anymore."
The next morning, as Cambria walked into the lobby of her media company's headquarters, a package waited at the front desk.
No return address.
She opened it slowly.
Inside was a flash drive.
One file.
She plugged it into her laptop.
A video played.
Julian. Bloody. Panicked. Tied to a chair.
And behind him…
Elena.
Very much alive.
And holding the camera.
Her voice was calm. Measured.
"I warned you not to underestimate me. You thought I was the storm. But I am the silence before it."
She leaned in closer.
"You tried to take everything from me, Cambria. Now watch as I take him."
The screen went black.
And for the first time in days, Cambria whispered the words no one thought she'd say:
"…we have to save Julian."