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“The doctor said she was beaten by 8 men. But when I checked the security footage from our bedroom, I realized the ultimate monster was the one standing right behind me…” / Chapter 4 / 8

Chapter 4 - THE BLOOD CITADEL

Eli began to weep, his knees giving out beneath him. Only Ethan's iron grip on his collar kept him upright.

"It's... it's Sarah!" Eli sobbed, his eyes darting frantically toward the hallway monitor. "Sarah Jenkins! Claire's personal assistant!"

"Why?" Ethan pressed the blade closer, grazing Eli’s skin. "Why swap her? Why beat her to death?!"

"It wasn't supposed to be like this!" Eli choked out. "Victor... Dad found out Claire was funneling money out of the cartel accounts. She was trying to run! She used Sarah as a decoy to stage her own kidnapping, but Dad caught Sarah first! He... he made an example of her to prove to Claire what happens when someone betrays the family!"

"Where is Claire?"

"She's at the Citadel!" Eli gasped. "The family estate in Dripping Springs! Victor has her locked in the sub-basement safe room! They're getting ready to move her across the border to Mexico tonight on a private jet! They're going to hand her over to the cartel to clear the debt!"

Ethan pulled the knife from the wall and shoved Eli to the floor. "And the video on the memory card? The video showing Claire ordering my hit in Oregon?"

Eli wiped blood and tears from his lip, looking up with genuine terror. "That was AI, Ethan! Victor had our tech team deep-fake her voice and face! He knew if you came back from Oregon, you’d burn down our empire to protect her. He had to make you think she betrayed you so you’d abandon her!"

The pieces clicked into place with horrifying precision.

The Blackwoods hadn't just tried to murder Ethan in Oregon; they had engineered a masterclass in psychological warfare. They wanted Ethan to see "Claire" broken in a hospital bed, believe she was a traitor, and walk away in disgust—leaving the real Claire to be tortured and executed by a Mexican drug syndicate to pay off Victor’s gambling debts.

Ethan looked at Sarah Jenkins—the poor, innocent assistant lying comatose on the bed, mutilated simply for being loyal to Claire.

"Call the chief of police," Ethan commanded Eli, dropping a secure burner phone onto the young man's chest. "Tell him if he doesn't send federal marshals to this hospital to protect this girl within ten minutes, I will release the unedited surveillance logs from the Austin precinct to every news network in Texas."

Ethan turned and walked toward the exit.

"Ethan, wait!" Eli shouted from the floor. "You can't go to the Citadel! There are twenty armed guards, armored vehicles, and Victor has hired foreign mercenaries! It's a fortress! You'll die!"

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Ethan paused at the threshold, pulling his tactical gloves tight over his knuckles.

"They brought a war to my home," Ethan said softly. "Now I'm bringing it to theirs."

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