Chapter 6 – The Woman Everyone Trusted
The figure in the upstairs window didn't move.
She simply smiled.
Then...
The curtains slowly closed.
Lily turned to her father, her voice trembling.
"Who is it?"
Her father looked exhausted.
His eyes filled with pain.
"The one person I trusted more than anyone."
Samuel frowned.
"You're talking about..."
Before he could finish, Lily's father nodded.
"My older sister."
Lily's heart stopped.
"Aunt Eleanor?"
It couldn't be.
Aunt Eleanor had raised Lily after her mother died.
She baked birthday cakes.
She attended every school play.
She cried at the memorial service after Lily's father disappeared.
She was family.
Or so everyone believed.
Back at the ranch house, the sheriff ordered every room searched.
But Eleanor was gone.
Her bedroom was spotless.
Every photo had disappeared.
Every drawer was empty.
She had vanished less than an hour before they arrived.
Samuel noticed something unusual inside her closet.
One loose floorboard.
Hidden beneath it was a leather notebook.
Inside were dozens of names.
Dates.
Bank transfers worth millions of dollars.
And photographs.
One photo made Lily's blood run cold.
It showed her father tied to a chair inside an abandoned warehouse.
Standing beside him...
Smiling at the camera...
was Aunt Eleanor.
On the back of the photograph, someone had written:
"Phase One Complete."
The sheriff immediately ordered a statewide search.
Roadblocks were set up.
Airports were notified.
Every highway patrol officer received Eleanor's picture.
Nothing.
She had disappeared like smoke.
That night, Lily's father finally revealed the truth.
Years earlier, their grandfather had hidden ownership of thousands of acres of land beneath the ranch.
Not ordinary land.
Geologists had secretly confirmed that enormous deposits of rare minerals lay underground.
The property was worth billions.
Only two people knew the exact location.
Him...
And Eleanor.
When he refused to sell the family legacy to a powerful investment group, Eleanor betrayed him.
She staged his disappearance.
Paid corrupt officials.
Bribed Deputy Tom.
Even convinced Caroline to help by promising her a fortune.
"But she made one mistake," Lily's father whispered.
"She thought I died."
Just then...
The electricity suddenly went out.
The entire ranch fell into darkness.
Outside...
Headlights appeared.
Not one.
Not two.
Nearly twenty black SUVs surrounded the property.
Men in tactical gear stepped out silently.
Each wore the same silver wolf emblem on their jackets.
Lily's father went pale.
"No..."
Samuel gripped his rifle.
"You know them?"
Her father slowly nodded.
"They're not here for the land anymore."
He stared at Lily.
"They're here for you."
At that exact moment, a spotlight lit up the front porch.
A woman's voice echoed through a loudspeaker.
"Lily..."
"You have exactly sixty seconds to come outside."
May you like
"Or everyone inside this house dies."
To Be Continued...
