Naya reached the back gates of the estate on instinct alone and wounded.The front gate was too busy with news reporters waiting for bad news.
Her body had gotten to the final destination long before her mind caught up muscle memory dragging her forward when pain demanded she stop. Blood soaked the inside of her jacket, warm and sticky against her skin. Every step sent a sharp reminder that she had come far past what her body could safely give.
The guards saw her stagger and froze for half a second long enough for fear to punch through recognition.
"Naya!"
She collapsed before the name fully left their mouths.
Strong hands caught her, voices rising, radios crackling as the estate doors flew open. Marble floors blurred beneath her as she was carried inside, the world out there had shown how wicked it was.Now she's safe.
She was finally inside the perimeter.
Kairo felt it before he heard it.
The disturbance, the shift in the house's rhythm. He came running, ignoring security protocol, ignoring reason. When he saw her pale, blood, barely conscious his chest tightened like it had taken a direct hit.
"Naya," he said crying , dropping beside her as they laid her down. "Stay with me."
Her eyes fluttered open, unfocused but stubbornly alive. "I made it," she whispered. "They tried to stop me… but I made it."
Medics flooded the room, cutting away fabric, pressing gauze to wounds that told a brutal story. Knife graze. Blunt impact. Exhaustion layered over trauma. Kairo stood frozen, hands clenched at his sides, watching the woman who had always been unbreakable now fighting simply to stay conscious.
"This is my fault," he said and cried slowly.
Her fingers twitched, weak but determined, finding his sleeve. "No," she said, forcing clarity into her voice. "This is the cost of knowing the truth."
He sank to his knees beside her, gripping her hand carefully. "You shouldn't have been alone."
"I wasn't," she replied faintly. "I had my purpose."
As they worked to stabilize her, Naya turned her face toward him one last time. "Maribel is still inside the circle," she warned. "And the syndicate is closer than you think."
Kairo nodded, jaw tight, fury and fear twisting together. "Then this ends now."
The doors locked. The estate went into full lockdown.
Outside, the city questioned his worth, his future, his integrity.
Inside, wounded and hurting, Naya had made it back to him.
And for Kairo, that changed everything.