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The digital deadbolt beeped, a sharp electronic chord slicing through the frozen silence of the kitchen at 6:15 AM. / Chapter 14 / 19

Chapter 14

Far away from the glittering lights of Wall Street and the high-rise penthouses of Chicago, inside the grim concrete walls of the federal penitentiary, Julian Vance sat at a chipped metal table in the common area, chewing silently on a tasteless, soggy piece of institutional white bread.

His custom Tom Ford suit was replaced by a faded orange jumpsuit stamped with DOC numbers across the chest. His hair was unwashed, his face hollowed out by endless months of hard labor and the brutal reality of prison hierarchy.

Another inmate walked past, shoving Julian’s shoulder hard enough to send his plastic tray clattering across the floor.

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I stepped past the door frame, my leather shoes clicking softly against the linoleum floor.

I stepped past the door frame, my leather shoes clicking softly against...

The screech of the chopper’s rotor blades vibrated directly through the freezing slate beneath my spine. The blinding white vortex of snow kicked up by the downdraft burned my eyes, but I forced my lids open, locking my gaze onto the amber visor of the rescue specialist dropping out of the sky.

The screech of the chopper’s rotor blades vibrated directly through the...

Daniel stepped toward the bed, his polished leather shoes squeaking against the pristine hospital linoleum. He reached for the tray table, his fingers brushing the edge of the papers. His voice was low, coated in a practiced, corporate calm that made my stomach churn worse than the spiked blood pressure.

Daniel stepped toward the bed, his polished leather shoes squeaking agai...

"Move it, corporate boy," the inmate sneered without looking back.

Julian didn't fight back. He didn't yell. He simply dropped his head onto his knees on the filthy concrete floor, finally understanding the true meaning of being trapped with no way out—while somewhere out there in the bright, beautiful world, the woman he had tried to break was rewriting the rules of the universe.

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