Chapter 4 - Nia Shields Her Children From Luca
Nia felt the heavy, suffocating weight of Luca’s stare boring into the back of her neck like a laser beam.
She calmly set her cloth napkin down on the table, her hands remaining steady despite the adrenaline spiking through her veins.
“Kids, finish your water,” Nia instructed softly, her voice carrying a calm authority that immediately commanded their attention.
“Mommy, why is that strange man staring at us like he wants to eat us?” the little boy asked, tilting his head with Luca’s exact gesture.
“He’s just confused, sweetie. Now look at me,” Nia replied, her eyes meeting Luca’s across the crowded room.
There was no fear in her gaze anymore.
Only a cold, impenetrable wall built from years of rebuilding her shattered life entirely on her own terms.
She stood up slowly from her chair, smoothing down her emerald-green silk dress with deliberate, agonizing slowness.
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“Let’s go, babies. Mommy has to check out early,” Nia said, ushering the twins toward the private exit corridor.
Luca saw her moving and panicked, breaking away from Evelyn’s grip with a sudden, violent lunge forward.
