Chapter 5 - The Glass Shatters
Before I could speak, the front door upstairs slammed open. Not the sound of a key, but the sound of wood splintering under pressure.
"They're here," Liam hissed, his entire demeanor shifting. The 'cold businessman' vanished, replaced by a man who moved with the lethal grace of someone who had lived in the shadows his entire life. "Go to the safe. There’s a panel in the back. Press the emergency release."
"Liam, no—"
"Go!" he roared.
He didn't wait. He grabbed a heavy metal crowbar from the workbench and sprinted toward the stairs. I scrambled to the back of the safe, my fingers clawing at the steel until I felt a hidden lever. I pulled it.
The wall behind the safe didn't just open; it slid away, revealing a panic room stocked with supplies and, more importantly, a direct feed to every camera in the house—including ones I didn't know existed.
I watched on the monitor as three figures in black tactical gear stormed the kitchen. Liam met them head-on. He wasn't just fighting; he was dismantling them. It was a brutal, efficient ballet of violence that I never believed he was capable of.
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But then, I saw the leader. He pulled off his mask. It was my father’s old associate—a man I was told had died years ago. He was holding a silenced pistol, and he wasn't aiming for Liam. He was aiming for the camera—the one I was looking through.
"They aren't here for the money, Claire," a voice whispered from the speaker of my own phone. It was Liam, patched into the intercom. "They're here to erase the only person who knows where the original ledger is. And that’s you."
