CHAPTER 2 — A House Full of Enemies
By sunrise...
Evelyn no longer lived in her tiny apartment.
She woke inside a mansion overlooking Lake Michigan.
Marble floors.
Armed guards.
Bulletproof windows.
Luxury beyond imagination.
It felt less like a home...
And more like a fortress.
Jack stood beside the fireplace reading intelligence reports.
Without looking up, he asked,
"Did you sleep?"
"Not really."
"Good."
She frowned.
"Because sleeping peacefully in my world usually means you're already dead."
His words weren't a joke.
At breakfast, Evelyn finally asked the question haunting her.
"Who wants to kill you?"
Jack remained silent for several seconds.
Then answered quietly.
"My uncle."
She nearly dropped her fork.
"My own blood."
He slid several photographs across the table.
Each showed members of the Carson family.
Some smiled beside charity foundations.
Others appeared on magazine covers beside politicians.
To the public...
They were respected billionaires.
Privately...
They ruled one of America's oldest criminal organizations.
"My father built this empire."
Jack said.
"When he died..."
"My uncle believed it belonged to him."
"But the will named me successor."
"So now..."
"My family is hunting me."
Before Evelyn could respond...
One guard rushed into the dining room.
"Boss!"
Jack immediately stood.
"What happened?"
The guard looked pale.
"We found another body."
Everyone hurried downstairs.
Inside the underground security room...
One of Jack's own bodyguards lay dead.
No signs of struggle.
No gunshot.
Only one message carved into the wooden desk beside him.
YOU SAVED THE WRONG MAN.
Evelyn's blood turned cold.
Jack quietly touched the carving.
Then looked around the room.
His expression changed.
Someone inside the mansion had allowed the killer in.
Someone standing among them...
Was already working for the enemy.
Jack slowly faced every guard.
His voice became ice.
"Lock every door."
"No one leaves."
"No one enters."
"The traitor is already inside this house."
Several guards instinctively reached for their weapons.
Nobody trusted anyone anymore.
But Evelyn noticed something far worse.
One guard wasn't nervous.
He was smiling.
Only for a second.
Then it disappeared.
She remembered his face.
He had been inside the café...
May you like
Hours before the assassination.
Watching everything.
