Valeria's POV
Grant's black car pulled up to my apartment building just as rain started to fall.
"I need to pack," I said, reaching for the door handle.
His hand shot out, stopping me. "Let me check first."
"Check for what?"
He didn't answer. Just stepped out into the rain and scanned the street like a soldier in enemy territory. After a long moment, he nodded.
"Stay close to me."
We hurried through the rain to the building entrance. My hands shook as I fumbled with my keys. Everything felt surreal, like I was watching someone else's life fall apart.
The elevator ride up felt longer than usual. Grant stood perfectly still, but his eyes never stopped moving.
"You're scaring me," I admitted. "What exactly are you protecting me from?"
"People who don't like being exposed," he said simply. "Your husband has made powerful friends. Some of them won't be happy when your family takes action."
The elevator dinged. Third floor.
I stepped into the hallway and froze.
Someone was standing outside my apartment door.
Grant moved in front of me instantly, his hand going to his hip.
"Identify yourself," he commanded.
The figure turned, hands raised. The hallway light caught his face.
"Easy," the man said calmly. "I'm a friend."
My breath caught. "Damon?"
Damon Hale stood there, rain-soaked and tense. His dark eyes found mine, and something in them made my chest ache.
"Val," he said softly. Then to Grant: "I'm not here to cause trouble."
"How long have you been here?" Grant asked, not lowering his guard.
"An hour. Maybe two." Damon's jaw tightened. "I've been watching."
"Watching?" I stepped around Grant. "Watching what? Why are you even here?"
Damon looked at me like he was seeing a ghost. "Because I promised your mother I'd keep an eye on you. Even if you didn't want me around."
"My mother?" Confusion mixed with anger. "You've been spying on me?"
"Not spying. Protecting." He ran a hand through his wet hair. "I knew something was wrong. The way your husband treated you, the hours he kept. I tried to stay away, but tonight—" He stopped, his fists clenching. "Tonight I saw you leave that hotel looking destroyed, and I couldn't stay back anymore."
"You saw me?" Humiliation burned through me. "You saw me at the hotel?"
"I saw him hurt you." Damon's voice went cold. "And it took everything in me not to go up there and—"
"Stand down," Grant interrupted. "She's been through enough."
Damon's eyes flashed. "Who are you?"
"Grant Steele. Lucien sent me."
Something passed between them. Understanding, maybe. Or recognition.
"Fine," Damon said. "But I'm not leaving her."
"That's not your decision," Grant replied.
"Stop!" I pressed my hands to my temples. "Both of you, just stop. I need to pack. I need to think. I need—" My voice broke.
Damon took a step forward. "Val—"
"Don't." I held up a hand. "Don't look at me like that. Like I'm broken. I can't handle it right now."
I pushed past both of them and unlocked my door. The apartment was dark and cold. Just like my marriage had been.
I flipped on the light and went straight to the bedroom. Grabbed a suitcase from the closet. Started throwing clothes inside.
Footsteps behind me. Both of them had followed me in.
"Miss Arden," Grant said carefully. "We should move quickly. Your brother wants you home within the hour."
"Let her breathe," Damon countered. "She just had her world shattered."
I kept packing. Shirts. Pants. My hands grabbed things randomly. Nothing matched. Nothing mattered.
"How long have you been watching me?" I asked Damon without looking at him.
Silence. Then: "Since your wedding day."
My hands stilled. "Two years? You've been watching me for two years?"
"Your family was worried. You cut everyone off, changed your number. Your mother asked me to check on you occasionally. Make sure you were safe."
"Safe?" I spun around. "I was married! I didn't need a guardian angel!"
"You needed someone," Damon said quietly. "Because your husband sure as hell wasn't taking care of you."
The truth of it hit hard. Kane never took care of me. Never protected me. Never saw me.
But Damon had been watching. For two years.
"Why didn't you tell me?" My voice cracked. "Why didn't you say something?"
"Would you have listened?" He stepped closer. "You were so determined to make it work. To prove you could survive without your family's name or money. I couldn't take that from you, even if I wanted to."
"So you just watched me suffer?"
Pain crossed his face. "Every single day. And it killed me."
Grant cleared his throat. "We really should—"
A loud crash came from the living room.
All three of us spun around. The window had shattered. Glass covered the floor.
Sitting in the middle of the broken glass was a brick with paper wrapped around it.
Grant moved first, gun drawn. "Get back!"
But I was already walking toward it. Something inside me had gone numb. Past fear. Past shock.
I picked up the brick with shaking hands and unwrapped the paper.
Words were scrawled in red marker:
STAY AWAY FROM KANE. LAST WARNING.
"Sarah," I whispered.
Damon took the note from my hands, his face darkening. "This is a threat."
"No." Grant examined the window. "This is an escalation. They know she called her family. They're trying to scare her before—"
Another crash. This time from the bedroom.
We ran back. The bedroom window was also broken. Another brick. Another note.
This one was worse:
TELL YOUR BROTHER TO BACK OFF OR YOU'LL REGRET IT.
"That's it." Grant pulled out his phone. "We're leaving now. No more packing."
"Agreed." Damon grabbed my suitcase. "My car is downstairs. It's armored."
"So is mine," Grant countered.
"Mine's faster."
"Gentlemen!" I shouted. They both stopped. "I don't care whose car we take. I just want to leave this place and never come back."
Grant nodded. "Fair enough. Damon, you drive. I'll follow and watch for tails."
We moved fast. Down the stairs instead of the elevator. Out the back entrance. The rain had gotten heavier, turning the street into a blur.
Damon's car was sleek and black, idling at the curb. He opened the door for me.
"Val," he said as I climbed in. "I know tonight has been hell. But I need you to trust me. Can you do that?"
I looked up at him. At this man who had been watching over me for two years. Who could have told everyone about my failing marriage but didn't. Who stood in the rain waiting to make sure I was okay.
"Why?" I asked. "Why do you care so much?"
He crouched down so we were eye level. Rain dripped from his hair onto his shoulders.
"Because I've loved you since we were fifteen years old," he said simply. "And watching you love someone else nearly destroyed me. But I'd do it again if it meant you were happy. Even if it was never with me."
My heart stopped.
Before I could respond, headlights flooded the street behind us.
A black van screeched to a halt. Doors flew open. Men in masks jumped out.
"Go!" Grant shouted. "NOW!"
Damon slammed my door and ran to the driver's side. The engine roared.
We took off just as the masked men started running toward us.
"Who are they?" I gasped, looking back.
"I don't know." Damon's knuckles were white on the steering wheel. "But we're about to find out."
One of the men raised something. It glinted in the streetlight.
A gun.
"Get down!" Damon shouted.
The back window exploded.
I screamed and dropped to the floor as Damon swerved hard. Behind us, Grant's car slammed into the van, blocking it.
"Hold on!" Damon took a sharp turn.
We flew through streets, the city becoming a blur of lights and rain. My heart hammered so hard I thought it might break through my ribs.
Finally, after what felt like hours but was probably minutes, Damon slowed down. We were in a different part of the city now. Quieter. Safer.
"Are you hurt?" he asked, helping me back into the seat.
"No. Scared, but not hurt." I looked at him. "Damon, what's happening? Why would someone shoot at us?"
His phone rang before he could answer. He put it on speaker.
"Damon?" Lucien's voice filled the car. "Is my sister with you?"
"She's here. She's safe."
"Good. Bring her to the estate immediately. And Damon?" Lucien's voice went cold. "Those men who attacked you? They weren't random. Someone just declared war on the Arden family."
The line went dead.
I stared at the phone, then at Damon.
"War?" I whispered. "Over me?"
Damon's jaw clenched. "Not over you, Val. Because of you. Someone knows your family is about to expose Kane. And they'll do anything to stop it."
He pulled back onto the road, heading toward the Arden estate.
But as we drove, I couldn't shake one terrible thought:
I had just wanted a divorce.
How did my life turn into a war zone in one night?
And who wanted me silenced badly enough to kill for it?