The woman standing near the entrance could not breathe.

For a second, the entire restaurant disappeared around her.

All she could see was her daughter… sitting across from Julian Blackthorne.

Maya looked up happily.

“Mom!”

The little girl jumped down from the chair, but her mother didn’t move. Her face had gone completely pale.

Julian slowly stood.

“Hannah.”

Even after eight years, he recognized her instantly.

The same eyes.

The same nervous habit of gripping her sleeve when she was afraid.

But now there was something else too.

Fear.

Not of the restaurant.

Not of the people watching.

Of him.

The guards around the room exchanged quick looks. Nobody understood why the billionaire looked shaken for the first time all night.

Maya frowned, confused.

“You know my mommy?”

Neither adult answered immediately.

Outside, rain slammed against the windows while tension spread through the room like fire.

Hannah finally stepped forward and grabbed Maya gently by the shoulders.

“We’re leaving.”

But Maya looked back at Julian.

“He was nice to me.”

Hannah’s eyes filled instantly.

Because that was the problem.

Julian Blackthorne had once been kind to her too.

Before his world destroyed everything around it.

Years ago, Hannah had worked nights at a hospital while studying nursing during the day. That was where she met Julian after his younger brother was brought in following a shooting.

Julian came in wearing blood on his hands and fury in his eyes.

Everyone feared him.

Except Hannah.

She treated him like a normal man.

And somehow, against all logic, he kept returning just to see her.

For six months, they lived inside a secret neither world would accept. Expensive dinners. Late-night drives through empty streets. Quiet moments where Julian almost seemed human again.

Then Hannah learned the truth.

People around Julian didn’t just lose money.

Sometimes they disappeared.

The final straw came the night she overheard one of his men calmly discussing a body being moved from a construction site Julian owned.

She packed a suitcase that same night.

And left without telling him she was pregnant.

Back in Belladonna’s, Julian stared at Maya carefully.

The shape of her eyes.

The small dimple when she spoke.

The way she crossed her arms exactly like him when upset.

The realization hit him like a bullet.

“She’s mine,” he said quietly.

Hannah’s eyes shut for a second.

Around them, the restaurant fell silent again.

Maya looked between them, completely lost.

“What does that mean?”

Before anyone could answer, one of Julian’s security men rushed toward him.

His voice was low.

“Sir… the threat wasn’t fake.”

Julian turned sharply.

“Location?”

“The car outside.”

At that exact moment, Maya looked toward the front windows.

A black sedan sat across the street with its headlights on.

And taped inside the windshield… was a message written in red paint.

YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED HIDDEN.

Then the car exploded.