Chapter 6 - Shadows in the DarkThat evening, the storm outside matched the tempest raging inside my mind. Heavy sheets of rain lashed against the floor-to-ceiling windows of the estate, casting eerie, dancing shadows across the living room where Ethan and I sat building an elaborate Lego castle on the plush rug.
Despite the legal victory, an unsettling intuition pricked at the back of my neck.
People like Richard, Vivian, and Brooke don't simply walk away when cornered like cornered rats. Desperation breeds irrationality, and desperation fueled by greed is the most dangerous force on earth.
"Mommy, look! I built a dragon!" Ethan cheered, holding up a clumsy green plastic creation with a proud, gap-toothed grin.
"It's the most ferocious dragon I've ever seen, buddy," I smiled, pulling him into a warm hug. But as I hugged him, my eyes drifted toward the French doors leading out to the back patio.
Through the blurred, rain-streaked glass, a silhouette flickered near the garden wall.
My heart skipped a beat.
I gently set Ethan down, telling him to stay right there with his toys while Mommy checked something in the kitchen. I walked swiftly, silently, toward the hallway security console, pulling up the exterior camera feeds.
The screen flickered through the dark, rainy feeds. Camera three—the rear patio gate—showed a dark figure draped in a heavy rain hood, creeping stealthily across the patio stone toward the side service entrance.
In their hand, they weren't holding an umbrella. They were holding a heavy metal crowbar.
It was Brooke.
Driven insane by the loss of her luxury lifestyle, the seizure of her offshore accounts, and the imminent collapse of her schemes, she had come back. Not to talk. Not to beg. But to finish what they started.
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Before I could even reach for the panic button, a loud, terrifying crash echoed from the rear service hallway.
The heavy glass door had shattered.
