Chapter 6 - Shadows in the Garden
Two weeks passed in a blur of luxury, safety, and unexpected peace. Sarah settled into her role effortlessly, managing Leo’s care with a natural grace that earned the immediate, grudging respect of every hardened guard and senior staff member on the estate. Lily had her own tutor, a gorgeous suite of rooms, and a sprawling garden to play in.
Yet, wealth in Julian Morty's world came with an invisible tax: paranoia.
Late one evening, after putting both children to sleep, Sarah walked down to the expansive glass-walled kitchen to make chamomile tea. The estate was silent, save for the distant patrain of rain against the French doors.
As she waited for the kettle to boil, a soft crunch of gravel echoed from the terrace outside.
Sarah froze. She stepped away from the light, peering through the glass. In the shadows of the manicured rose garden, a figure dressed in all black was moving stealthily toward the kitchen's ground-floor service door.
Before Sarah could panic, the service door clicked open.
Julian stepped out from the pantry hallway, moving with terrifying, predatory silence. He didn't carry a weapon in his hand, but his posture was coiled like a spring. He had anticipated this breach.
"I wondered how long it would take the Outfit to send a message," Julian’s voice cut through the dark kitchen like a razor.
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The intruder froze in the doorway, a masked operative holding a silenced pistol. Before the man could raise his weapon, Julian moved with blinding speed, disarming the assassin in a blur of motion and slamming him against the stone pillar.
Sarah watched from the shadows, her breath trapped in her lungs, realizing the terrifying reality of the world she had married her life into.
