(Ava Chen's POV)
I was baking.
Not well, to be fair. The cookies were a little burnt, the kitchen looked like a warzone, and I had frosting in my hair. But I wanted to surprise Dada. He'd been gone all day—longer than usual—and I missed him.
I always miss him.
Even if it's only been an hour.
The clock said 11:47 PM when I heard the gates open.
Too late. Way too late. Even for him.
I wiped flour off my hands and rushed to the front door barefoot, hair swishing behind me in a tangled curtain that reached my knees. I was halfway down the stairs when I heard the car door slam.
Then the front door opened.
And I froze.
It wasn't him walking in.
It was something else.
Something darker.
Something dripping.
"D-Dada?"
He stood in the doorway like a nightmare.
Black dress shirt, half unbuttoned. Blood smeared across the fabric. His hands—God, his hands—soaked in red. His watch glinted coldly under the entryway light, but there was a cut above his brow, and a deeper one on his lip. His eyes—usually so calm and sharp—looked… wild.
Not him.
Not my Dada.
And for a second—just one awful second—I was scared.
He looked up.
Everything in him shifted.
"Ava—" his voice cracked.
He took a step toward me, and I flinched.
He stopped cold.
"I—I didn't mean to—" I whispered. "I was just—baking. I didn't know you'd—"
He dropped to his knees.
Right there in the foyer. This giant, terrifying man. The coldest CEO. The most feared name in half the underground world.
And he was kneeling on marble, covered in someone else's blood, looking at me like he was the one who'd been shot.
"I didn't want you to see me like this."
My knees buckled. I ran to him anyway.
I dropped to the floor and wrapped my arms around him so tight I could feel his heartbeat thudding against mine.
"Who did this to you?" I whispered, tears blurring my vision.
"I handled it," he said quietly. "It's over."
I looked up at him, face streaked with flour and tears. "Dada… are you okay?"
He pulled me into his chest, ignoring the blood. His arms crushed around me like he thought I might disappear.
"I am now," he said. "As long as you're safe. That's all that matters."
"I'm always safe," I whispered into his collar. "Because you're my Dada. The scariest, sweetest man in the world."
His hand cupped the back of my head. His voice broke.
"I don't want you to ever be scared of me, Ava."
"I'm not," I said softly, holding him tighter. "I was scared for you."
We sat there on the cold floor.
Me in frosting-covered pajamas. Him covered in blood.
And somehow… it was still home.
Because home was always him.