Chapter 15 - The UltimatumMarcus’s voice suddenly cut into the safe room's internal comms, strained and urgent: "Isabella... don't listen to him. We've got a tactical extraction team five minutes out. Hold the line!"

"Five minutes is too long, Marcus," Isabella replied, her voice eerily calm. "If Logan starts burning the house, the smoke will fill the ventilation shafts. The kids won't survive."
"I am not letting you sacrifice yourself," Marcus said fiercely over the comms. "We fight our way out together!"
Isabella looked down at the three children who had been her entire world since that rainy night ten years ago. They had a future, a family, and a life full of promise. She couldn't let them lose everything now.
Without warning, Isabella reached out and punched the override code for the safe room door into the keypad.
Clack-hiss.
The heavy steel hatch swung slowly upward, letting in the cool, smoky air of the hallway.
May you like
"Isabella, no!" Sofia screamed, reaching out to grab her sleeve.
"Stay here, Sofia. Promise me you'll stay hidden," Isabella whispered, kissing the top of the girl's head before climbing up the spiral staircase into the burning mansion above.