CHAPTER 4: The Bodyguard Pulled the Trigger... But He Was One Step Too Late
The ballroom exploded into screams.
The bodyguard's pistol pointed straight at Victor Ashford's chest.
Everything happened in less than a second.
BANG!
The deafening gunshot echoed beneath the crystal chandeliers.
Women screamed.
Children cried.
Guests threw themselves behind tables.
Victor instinctively closed his eyes...
Waiting for the bullet that never came.
Instead...
Another man collapsed.
One of Victor's security guards had thrown himself into the line of fire, taking the bullet in his shoulder.
Before the assassin could fire again, Noah shouted with terrifying calm.
"He's not alone!"
The words froze everyone.
Two waiters suddenly dropped their serving trays.
A violinist reached beneath the stage.
Even one of the photographers pulled a hidden pistol from inside his camera bag.
The charity gala had never been a celebration.
It had been a trap.
Within seconds, chaos swallowed the ballroom.
Security agents tackled guests to the floor while bullets shattered glass and chandeliers crashed onto the marble floor.
Lily's mother wrapped her daughter in her arms.
Noah sprinted toward them without hesitation.
"Stay behind me!"
A bullet struck a pillar just inches from Noah's head.
Yet he didn't flinch.
He grabbed Lily and pushed her beneath the stage moments before another volley of shots ripped through the room.
Victor watched in disbelief.
This wasn't the frightened little boy he'd spent three years searching for.
This child moved like someone who had survived nightmares no eight-year-old should ever know.
The gunfire finally stopped.
Within minutes, police special forces stormed the ballroom.
Three assassins were captured.
One was dead.
But the bodyguard...
The man Noah had warned everyone about...
Had disappeared.
Only his pistol remained on the floor.
Victor breathed heavily as detectives searched the ballroom.
Then an officer rushed over holding a black envelope.
"Sir... we found this in the assassin's jacket."
Victor slowly opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
It showed Noah standing beside his parents on the day before the helicopter crash.
Across every face except Noah's was a thick red X.
At the bottom, someone had handwritten one chilling sentence:
"The last heir dies tonight."
The room fell silent.
Victor looked at Noah, his hands trembling.
"I swear I'll protect you this time."
But Noah slowly shook his head.
"No..."
Victor frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Noah looked toward the shattered ballroom doors.
"They're not trying to kill me anymore."
Everyone stared at him.
He pointed at Lily.
"They're coming for her."
Lily's mother froze.
"My daughter?"
Noah nodded.
"She saw the one face they never wanted a witness to remember."
At that exact moment...
Lily quietly tugged on her mother's sleeve.
"I remember him now..."
She looked toward the crowd of terrified guests...
Raised one trembling finger...
And pointed directly at a smiling elderly woman who had been pretending to cry since the shooting began.
"That's the lady who pushed me into the road two years ago..."
The woman's smile vanished.
May you like
And every detective in the ballroom slowly turned toward her.
TO BE CONTINUED...
