Chapter 870:

🍙 🍙 🍙 🍙 🍙

The moment the signal returned, Liam’s primary phone exploded to life with notifications. Haleigh’s thumb flew to a secure contact buried deep in the list for emergencies: Leo. The call connected immediately.

“I need a vehicle,” she said, her voice low and steady, betraying none of the panic clawing at her throat. “The toughest you have. Highest chassis, best water-fording capability. Bring a fever-reducer kit. Back entrance of the Hampton farm. Now.”

Fifteen minutes later, a black Knight XV tore through the rain-drenched darkness — more armored assault vehicle than SUV — and slammed to a stop on the far side of the submerged bridge, its headlights cutting through the deluge like twin suns.

Haleigh had already wrapped a delirious Liam tightly in a waterproof tarp. Without a moment’s hesitation, she hoisted him into her arms and waded into the churning, waist-deep water. The icy current pulled at her legs, mud sucking at her boots, but she moved with the relentless force of a mother who had no other option.

She reached the other side, wrenched open the heavy passenger door, and laid Liam carefully across the back seat.

“Go!” she said to the driver, climbing in beside Liam and pulling the door shut. “Manhattan. The best private hospital you can reach.”

𝖡𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖿𝗂𝗋𝗌𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽 𝗈𝗇 𝗀𝖺𝗅𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅𝗌.𝖼𝗈𝗆

The Knight XV roared forward, its massive tires churning mud and water as it devoured the storm-swept road.

Haleigh managed to get some of the fever-reducing medication into Liam, but his temperature remained dangerously high. He shivered in her arms, his small body fighting a war she could not see.

“Mom…” Liam murmured — barely a whisper, lost somewhere in the fever dream. His small hand found the fabric of her jacket and gripped it. “Don’t go…”

The word, and the plea behind it, shattered the last of her composure. Tears she had been holding back for hours finally broke free, hot and silent against her cold skin. She pulled him closer, her heart feeling as though it were being torn from her chest.

“Mom’s not going anywhere,” she whispered back, her voice thick. “I’m right here, baby. I’m right here.”

It was in that moment of raw vulnerability that a new sound cut through the roar of the engine and the drumming of the rain. A shrill, piercing ringtone — a custom frequency designed to demand attention above all other noise.

It wasn’t her phone. The sound was coming from the seat beside her. Wedged in the gap between the cushions was a device she hadn’t noticed: Liam’s encrypted backup phone.

On the screen, a single designation flashed in stark white letters: [Alpha].

Haleigh’s breath caught. Kane Barrett’s exclusive channel.

The phone didn’t ring so much as scream — relentless, demanding, a sound that carried the implicit threat of consequences for being ignored. She stared at it, her blood turning cold. Answering meant war. Not answering could mean something worse.

She bit her lip, drew a long, shuddering breath, and pressed the answer key.

The explosion of sound was like a physical blow. “LIAM! YOU DARE CUT YOUR LOCATION FOR THREE HOURS?!”

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