CHAPTER 2 — The Woman Nobody Ever Saw
Vincent stared at Elena.
For the first time in three years...
He actually looked at her.
Not as a servant.
Not as invisible furniture.
But as someone who had just saved his life.
"Who?" he mouthed silently.
Elena shook her head.
"Not yet."
Outside, Marcus gathered his men.
"We leave in five minutes."
"Plant the trackers."
"Next time he comes home..."
"...he won't leave alive."
Vincent's jaw tightened.
Trackers?
Inside his own bedroom?
The assassins quickly hid tiny electronic devices beneath furniture, behind paintings, inside air vents, even beneath the king-sized bed.
Every movement showed careful preparation.
This wasn't burglary.
It was occupation.
Marcus was turning Vincent's own mansion into a trap.
Only after the front door slammed shut did Elena slowly open the closet.
The bedroom looked untouched.
Almost peaceful.
But Vincent immediately noticed dozens of details only he would recognize.
A painting hung half an inch crooked.
The carpet near the fireplace had been moved.
The crystal chessboard on his desk was facing the wrong direction.
Someone had searched every secret compartment.
Vincent quietly walked toward the hidden safe.
Empty.
Not broken.
Opened.
Whoever entered knew the exact combination.
Only five people knew that code.
Vincent.
Marcus.
His wife Isabella.
His lawyer.
And...
His longtime bodyguard Tony.
Suddenly Elena grabbed his wrist again.
"Don't."
Vincent frowned.
She pointed upward.
A tiny red light blinked inside the chandelier.
A hidden camera.
His own bedroom...
...was now watching him.
Elena calmly picked up a decorative vase.
She smashed it onto the marble floor.
The loud crash echoed through the mansion.
Immediately footsteps approached outside.
Security guards rushed in.
"Boss!"
"What happened?"
Vincent studied their faces.
Fear.
Confusion.
Concern.
Or perfect acting.
He couldn't tell anymore.
Before anyone could ask another question, Elena suddenly fell to her knees.
"I'm sorry, sir."
"It slipped while I was cleaning."
The guards laughed nervously.
One even rolled his eyes.
"Just a maid."
Nobody questioned her.
Nobody imagined the maid had just exposed a hidden surveillance camera without revealing that she had discovered it.
As the guards cleaned the broken glass, Elena secretly slipped a tiny memory chip into Vincent's hand.
It was warm.
Hidden inside was a single folded note.
Vincent opened it later that night when nobody could see.
Only seven words were written across the paper.
"Your wife ordered the assassination six months ago."
Vincent stopped breathing.
He read the sentence again.
Then again.
His wife...
The woman he had loved for twenty-eight years...
The woman who cried every time he left for dangerous meetings...
The woman sleeping beside him every night...
Had secretly hired the people trying to murder him.
Before he could process the shock, his encrypted phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
One message.
One photograph.
It showed Vincent sleeping peacefully in his own bed...
Taken only three nights earlier.
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Beneath the photo was a chilling sentence:
"Next time, we won't let you wake up."
