The van screeched into Joanna's driveway just as the first grey light of dawn cracked the horizon. The tires hadn't even stilled when the front door flew open. Vera was already on the porch, hair disheveled, face raw from a night of pacing and prayer.
When she saw Bella, she broke.
"My baby!" she cried, rushing forward. Bella stumbled into her mother's arms, Jessy tucked between them. Both women clung as if time itself might try to pry them apart again.
"Mom, I....I thought I wouldn't make it," Bella whispered, sobbing against her shoulder.
"You're here. You're here. That's all that matters." Vera kissed the baby's crown again and again, rocking him like her own heart was inside his chest.
Chris stood back in the yard, shadows cutting his jaw, eyes locked on the scene as though it was both the most painful and the most necessary thing he'd ever witnessed.
When Vera finally looked up and saw him, her grief flared into fire again. She marched toward him, finger stabbing the cold air between them.
"You!" she spat. "You should never have let it come to this."
Chris didn't move. He absorbed her rage like penance.
"She lost one of your children already," Vera cried, her voice cracking. "Don't you dare make her lose this one!"
Bella flinched, glancing at her mother in confusion. "Mom....what are you talking about?"
Vera froze. She hadn't meant to say it out loud. Her eyes darted to Chris's, then away. Not now, her silence screamed.
Chris's gaze lingered on Vera just long enough to acknowledge the slip, but he said nothing. He couldn't, not yet.
Instead, he stepped forward, his voice even but edged with steel. "Bella and Jessy aren't safe here. Cassandra sent Clinton. She wants Jessy gone. She won't stop."
Joanna, standing stiff in the doorway, paled. "You're saying your own mother ordered?"
"Yes," Chris cut in, his tone like stone. "I have proof. Clinton confessed. Paper trails. Audio. She's behind this."
Bella's stomach churned. She held Jessy tighter, pressing his little face into her chest. "Why? Why would she want to hurt my baby? What did he ever do?"
Chris's eyes softened on her, but underneath was fire. "Because she's terrified of the truth. Terrified of what Jessy means."
Bella blinked at him, trying to read the words behind his words. "Chris... what are you saying?"
Before he could answer, Elliot jogged up from the van, tablet in hand. His expression was tight. "Boss, you need to see this."
Chris skimmed the feed. Cassandra's voice, sharp even through static, filled the yard:
"...clean up the Toronto mess. If Bella and the child aren't erased, everything we built burns. Do you understand me, Clinton? Everything."
The audio ended in dead air.
Vera gasped, one hand flying to her mouth. Bella's knees nearly buckled.
Chris's jaw tightened. His voice, low and final, carried across the porch:
"She's declared war."
Joan's Toronto house was tense. Elliot and his men moved fast, checking the doors, windows, and streets outside. They set up a guard post, rotating shifts.
Vera sat on the couch watching as Bella held Jessy close, rocking him while her eyes stayed sharp and worried.
Chris stood in the middle of the room, giving orders. "Two men at the front, two at the back. Change every four hours. Nobody goes in or out without my approval."
Elliot nodded and rushed off.
Vera glared at Chris. "You think this will stop your mother? Chris, you know Cassandra. When she wants something, she won't stop."
Chris's voice dropped, cold and steady. "That's why I'm not leaving Bella and Jessy here. They come with me. Both of you, if you'll agree."
Bella's head snapped up. "Come with you? After everything that's happened you expect me to just follow you?" She hugged Jessy tighter, her voice breaking.
Chris turned to her. His eyes were hard but there was pain in them too. "No. I don't expect you to follow me. I expect you to trust me. And I know I don't deserve it. But right now, trust isn't a choice. It's survival."
Her throat tightened. "You weren't there for me, Chris. I begged for you. I called until my hands went numb. You blocked me. You left me alone." Tears streamed down her face.
Chris's chest rose and fell heavily. His voice dropped, rough. "You think I didn't want to come? My father's men were on me day and night. He swore he'd kill you if I tried to reach you. The next week, when I finally got free you were gone. Toronto. I've had men watching you since."
Bella blinked in shock. "You... you had people following me?"
"To protect you." His jaw clenched. "Not to control you. To protect you. I never stopped loving you, Bella. Not for one second. And I swear I'll burn anyone who tries to hurt you, including my own mother."
The room went silent.
Chris remembered the statement she had made twice "She lost one of your children already. Don't you dare make her lose another."
His eyes darkened at Vera's words, but he didn't think much of it. Instead, he turned to Elliot, who had just rushed back inside.
"Boss," Elliot said quickly, "Cassandra's men are moving. We don't have much time."
Chris looked at Bella, then at Vera, then Jessy in her arms. His voice was final. "Pack your things. All of them. We're leaving for London tonight."
Bella's heart raced. She wanted to fight him, scream at him, demand the truth about everything. But when Jessy whimpered softly against her chest, she knew she had no choice.
For her baby, she would go.
Chris's eyes locked with hers. His voice was low, dangerous. "I lost you once. I won't lose you again."