bChapter /bb22 /b

“And thisb,/bb” /bshe added, scooping more. “You’ve been working too hard. You’re getting too thin eat up?

Skr’s te looked like a mountain. Sheughed, grabbing her mom’s hand. “Mom, stop, I can’t eat all this?”

“It’s hardly anything!” Yana said, frowning. “Look at you, so skinny. You need to eat to keep your energy up for work.”

She added a big pile of braised short ribs.

Skr shot her dad a desperate look, begging for backup.

Carlos tugged at his wife’s arm, fake–pouting. “Hey, don’t just spoil Skr. Show me and Freya some love, too.”

Yanaughed, sliding amb chop onto Carlos’s and Freya’s tes. “Grown man acting like a jealous kid. Eat up already”

Freya nced at Skr’s te, stacked high like a buffet, and barely stopped herself from tossing her fork and storming off

Before Skr came along, Freya’s te was always loaded. Now? Just one lousy chop.

Yana was acting like she only had one daughter.

Panic hit Freya hard, sharp and urgent.

She had to move–fast. Skr’s connection with the Lamberts was still new. If Freya yed it smart, she could shove her out before those bonds got stronger.

The table went quiet, everyone wrapped up in their own ns as they ate.

Back in her room, Skr stepped out of the shower, her wet hair sticking to her shoulders. Her eyes hit herptop, and the day’s frustrations came rushing back.

She dropped into the chair at her desk, fingers racing across the keyboard. Lines of code flowed outb, /bclean and deadly.

With a final tap, she hit enter, and the program kicked into gear.

At Campbell Group’s headquarters, thete–night quiet broke as rms screamed.

“Warning! Someone’s attacking the firewall!” a tech yelled, voice cracking. “It’s going down!”

Programmers pounded their keyboardsb, /bscreens shing with desperatemands, but the attack tore through unchecked.

Yosef, still in his office, got the call and bolted to the server room.

He pushed a programmer out of the way, slid into the chair, and started typing, his fingers flying as he tried to patch the defenses.

Skr smirked from her roomb, /bpropping her chin on one hand. “Think you can stop me? That’s cute.”

She leaned back, watching the chaos unfold.

If she wasn’t sleeping easy tonight, neither would Yosef.

The firewall crumbled, ripped apart like paper.

Yosef froze for a split second, then shifted gears, writing code to track the attacker’s location.

Skr spotted his move and threw up her own firewall, blocking his trace.

bChapter /bb22 /b

bBut /bbshe /bwas bhalf /bba /bsecondte.

Yosef caught the location before it disappeared, burning it into his mind. “The Lambert estate…

He ran through the options. He had no issues with the Lamberts, no reason for them to target him like this.

Yet the trace led right to their door.

“Hudson,” he snapped into his phone. “Find

out

what’s been going on with the Lambert familytely”

“On itb, /bMr. Campbell,” Hudson replied.

Yosef stormed home, his blood simmering. But seeing his son, Adam, piecing together Legos on the living room rug, cooled his anger.

“Adam,” he called softly.

“Daddy!” Adam’s face lit up. He jumped up, racing toward Yosef with a big grin.

Yosef’s heart tightened. “Hey, easy, buddy. You know you’ve got to take it slow.”

Adam’s lip quivered, his eyes tearing up. “Sorry, Daddy.”

Yosef sighed, kneeling to meet his son’s eyes. “No, I’m sorry, Adam. I got upset. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“It’s my fault,” Adam mumbled, wrapping his arms around Yosef’s neck. “My body’s weak, and I wasn’t careful.”

“Don’t say that,” Yosef said, his voice heavy. “I’ll find a way to make you better, I swear.”

Adam nodded, his small body sinking into Yosef’s broad shoulder.

In the silence, Adam’s mind wandered. ‘Is his sickness why Mom didn’t want me?‘

The memory of that day hurt, and his eyes shimmered with unshed tears.