CHAPTER 4 – "The Judge's Final Mistake"
The red laser remained fixed on Ethan's chest.
Every instinct told him not to move.
Across the prison yard, Isabella slowly raised both hands.
"Don't shoot!"
Her voice echoed through the rain.
But she wasn't talking to the mercenaries.
She was talking to the sniper hidden somewhere inside the prison.
Captain Ross instantly understood.
"The shot is coming from our side..."
Before anyone could react—
BANG!
The bullet ripped through the storm.
Ethan turned at the last possible second.
The round grazed his shoulder instead of piercing his heart.
At the same moment, another gunshot cracked through the darkness.
The hidden sniper collapsed from the watchtower.
A second, unknown sniper had eliminated him.
Nobody knew whose side he was on.
The prison yard fell silent.
Then a black helicopter descended above Blackridge.
Its doors opened.
An elderly man in an expensive gray suit stepped out without bodyguards.
The prison warden immediately lowered his head.
"The Honorable Judge Richard Halston..."
Every federal agent stiffened.
Every mercenary stopped moving.
Even Isabella's expression hardened.
Judge Halston slowly clapped his hands.
"Impressive, Ethan."
"You've survived longer than expected."
Ethan stared at the man who had sentenced him only twenty-four hours earlier.
"You framed me."
Halston smiled.
"No."
"I erased you."
The judge pulled a thin folder from his briefcase.
Inside were dozens of photographs.
Every undercover mission Ethan had ever completed.
Every identity he had ever used.
Every ally who had ever trusted him.
Then Halston casually tossed the folder into the mud.
"Everything you sacrificed..."
"...belongs to me now."
Captain Ross felt sick.
This wasn't about corruption.
This wasn't even about prison.
It was about an operation so secret that Ethan himself had never seen the full picture.
Isabella stepped forward.
"You lied to both of us."
The judge laughed.
"I lied to everyone."
Then he looked directly at Ethan.
"Did you ever wonder why your parents disappeared when you were ten?"
Ethan's breathing stopped.
No one...
No one knew about his parents.
"They weren't killed in an accident," Halston continued.
"They discovered something they should never have seen."
"And I personally signed the order."
For the first time since entering Blackridge Prison...
Ethan completely lost his composure.
His fists trembled.
His eyes filled with rage.
Marcus, watching from behind the prison gates, whispered,
"He's finally breaking..."
But Ethan wasn't breaking.
He was remembering.
Fragments of forgotten memories flooded back.
A hidden laboratory.
Children.
Military uniforms.
A woman screaming his real name.
Then one memory hit harder than all the others.
A little girl...
Holding his hand.
Calling him...
"Big brother."
Ethan looked up slowly.
"Where is she?"
Judge Halston's smile widened.
"You've already met her."
Ethan frowned.
"What?"
The judge turned toward Isabella.
Then calmly spoke the sentence that froze everyone.
"She isn't your wife..."
"She's your sister."
The entire prison stood in stunned silence.
Even Isabella's face turned white.
May you like
Because...
She had never known the truth either.
