Chapter 16 - The Uninvited Letter
A heavy, cream-colored envelope arrived at the Manhattan brownstone on a crisp November morning. Clare picked it up from the marble entry table, her fingers pausing at the unfamiliar, looping handwriting. There was no return address.
She tore it open in the quiet kitchen while Leo napped upstairs.
Inside was a single sheet of cheap lined paper.
Clare, I know you think you won. You took my empire, my freedom, my life. But empires don't just vanish; they rot from the inside out. Watch your back. People like us don't stay down forever. — H.
Clare stared at the threat, her breath catching for a single, sharp heartbeat. But the initial spike of adrenaline quickly dissolved into cold, hardened resolve. She walked over to the kitchen desk, pulled out her phone, and forwarded a photo of the letter directly to the federal marshal assigned to her security detail.
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"He's still playing games," Julian said, walking into the kitchen and reading over her shoulder.
"Let him," Clare replied calmly, locking the letter inside her desk drawer. "A caged animal only makes noise when he realizes the door is welded shut."
