Chapter 15 - Blood and Bulletproof Glass
The battle for the Sterling estate was a brutal, merciless exercise in survival. Ethan moved through the corridors with the cold, calculated fury of a man defending his entire universe. Every corner he turned, every doorway he secured, was met with professional resistance from Julian’s elite mercenaries.
Beside him, Sarah fought with a lethal, desperate grace, laying down suppressing fire from the second-floor balcony while tossing smoke grenades down into the grand foyer to blind the advancing assault team.
"Ethan, they're breaching the nursery wing!" Sarah screamed over the deafening rattle of gunfire.
Ethan’s heart stopped. He abandoned his position, sprinting down the corridor toward Lily’s room, his rifle raised.
He kicked the nursery door open just as a mercenary in black armor was stepping through the shattered window, holding a heavy chemical canister designed to flood the room with knockout gas.
Ethan didn't blink. He raised his rifle and fired twice, dropping the operative instantly. He rushed to the canopy bed, pulling back the blankets.
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Lily was gone.
On the white silk pillow lay a single handwritten note scrawled in blood-red ink: “Check the lake house, Ethan. Checkmate.”
