The men in dark suits hammered the car windows relentlessly, the glass now spiderwebbing under the blows.
She sensed it wouldn't hold much longer.
Sure enough, a deafening crack split the air as one window shattered.
A masked figure reached in, fumbling for the door's lock.
Tilda's nerves frayed, but she grabbed a small blade from her purse and slashed at the intruder's hand.
He yelped, yanking his arm back with a string of curses.
Simultaneously, a loud smash echoed as another car window splintered into fragments.
A second assailant, eyes gleaming with malice, lunged through the opening toward Sheldon.
Tilda instinctively threw herself in front of Sheldon, swinging her blade at the attacker.
This one, wary after his accomplice's error, nimbly dodged her strike.
In the chaos, the other assailant seized the moment, Leaning through the broken window to pop open the car's lock.
"Mommy!" Sheldon's voice cracked with fear.
Tilda whipped around to see her son being yanked from the vehicle.
"Sheldon!" she cried, lunging for him, only to wince as a sharp tug burned her scalp.
Her door was wrenched open, and the assailant dragged her out by her hair.
"Madam! Young master!" The bodyguard's desperate shout cut through the air as he struggled to reach them, overwhelmed by the sheer number of attackers and slowed by his wounds.
The assailants hauled Tilda and Sheldon, both kicking and twisting, toward the nearby van.
At that moment, tires screeched as a car raced up and skidded to a stop.
Lyndon burst out, his voice booming, "Let them go!" "Daddy!" Sheldon's cry rang out, trembling but hopeful.
"Stay calm, Sheldon. I'm here," Lyndon said, his eyes briefly locking on Sheldon before shifting to Tilda, offering a calming nod as he advanced toward the attackers.
Tilda choked back her terror, her gaze fixed on Lyndon as he drove his boot into one of the masked figures, swiftly seizing the man's metal bar and clashing with the others in a fierce struggle.
"Faster! Get them in the van!" the assailant restraining Tilda yelled urgently to his accomplice clutching Sheldon.
Tilda's pulse raced as she saw herself and Sheldon being pulled toward the van.
Desperate, she cried out to Lyndon, "Lyndon, protect Sheldon!" She could endure whatever came, but her son had to be safe.