CHAPTER 2 — THE HOUSE BECAME A CRIME SCENE
Vanessa wrapped both hands around my throat.
Her nails dug into my skin.
Broken glass pressed against my neck.
"If you scream..."
"...I'll finish cutting."
A warm line of blood slid beneath my collar.
I stayed perfectly still.
Fear excited her.
Calm terrified her.
She squeezed harder.
"Your mother won't save you."
I almost smiled.
Because she already had.
Far away, inside a private security command center, dozens of computer screens flashed bright red.
EMERGENCY KEYWORD DETECTED.
VIOLENT THREAT.
POSSIBLE KIDNAPPING.
PROPERTY OWNER: ELEANOR HART.
Within seconds, an operator reviewed the live audio.
Vanessa's voice.
Threats.
Glass.
Violence.
Another monitor identified bleach.
Blood.
Possible attempted murder.
The operator didn't hesitate.
She called a special tactical response team that Eleanor Hart personally funded after surviving an attempted kidnapping years earlier.
Back inside the mansion...
Adrian knelt beside me.
For a brief second...
I thought he had finally chosen humanity.
Instead...
He lifted my hand.
Forced a pen between my fingers.
"Sign."
His voice was flat.
Cold.
"If you cooperate, Vanessa won't hurt you anymore."
I laughed.
Actually laughed.
"You already sold your soul."
His face darkened.
He slapped me.
"So be it."
Vanessa smiled.
"I told you she'd never learn."
She grabbed my wrist.
Pressed my bleeding thumb onto the transfer documents.
Forgery.
Kidnapping.
Attempted murder.
Conspiracy.
Every crime recorded.
Every voice crystal clear.
Suddenly...
BOOM!
The enormous oak front door exploded inward.
Wood splintered across the marble floor.
Flashlights flooded the hallway.
"FEDERAL TACTICAL UNIT!"
"DROP THE WEAPON!"
Vanessa froze.
The glass shard fell from her hand.
Adrian staggered backward in complete shock.
Black-uniformed officers flooded every hallway.
Red laser sights locked onto both siblings.
Hands shot upward.
Nobody moved.
Then...
A woman wearing a navy-blue suit stepped calmly through the shattered doorway.
Elegant.
Unshaken.
Powerful.
My mother.
Eleanor Hart.
Vanessa blinked.
"Who... are you?"
My mother looked at her without emotion.
"The woman whose daughter you just tried to murder."
Then she turned toward me.
For the first time in years...
I heard genuine concern.
"My sweet girl..."
"I'm here."
I burst into tears.
Not because I was afraid anymore.
But because I knew...
The nightmare was finally ending.
Or so I thought.
May you like
Because Adrian still had one final secret...
One capable of destroying every life in that mansion.
