Part 127
At first, it was nothing.
Just the faint echo of tires on gravel, the crunch of footsteps somewhere beyond the fence. The sort of ordinary sounds that belonged to quiet neighborhoods like this one.
But then came the second noise — a car door shutting. Another. Voices.
Aura froze in the kitchen, her hand stilling over the sink. The sound wasn't close yet, but it wasn't far either.
Her mind started running, precise and fast.
No one came out here. The house was secluded. She had made sure of it.
So why now?
She dried her hands slowly, every movement deliberate as she went to the window.
There — just beyond the trees — flashes of dark blue.
A uniform.
Her breath caught.
"No…" she whispered. "No, they wouldn't—"
Her thoughts fractured, splintering in a dozen directions at once.
How had they found him? How had they found her?
She'd been careful, so careful. She'd wiped everything clean, used a different name, moved at night, never let him near a phone again.
Aura pressed a trembling hand to her mouth. Through the thin walls she could hear him — Adrian — humming faintly again, that same quiet melody he always went back to when he was thinking. The sound made her heart ache, made her panic twist into something else.
They're coming to take him away.
They'll ruin him again.
They'll destroy what we built.
"No," she whispered again, shaking her head hard enough to make her vision blur. "They can't. Not again."
Her eyes darted toward the back door — the emergency route she'd never told him about. She could use it, get him out before they reached the front. Hide him. Keep him safe.
Because she had promised herself that no one would take him from her. Not fame. Not fans. Not the world.
Her pulse hammered in her throat as the voices outside grew louder — sharper now, commanding.
A man shouted something, the sound muffled but clear enough to hear his name.
Adrian.
Aura's chest tightened. The mug in her hand slipped and shattered across the tile.
It was too late to hide.