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The phone clattered against the hardwood floor, sliding beneath the heavy mahogany dresser. Ava watched it disappear, the screen winking out before it could cast a final ray of hope. / Chapter 15 / 20

Chapter 15 - The Predator’s Return

Before Mark’s finger could squeeze the trigger, a heavy shadow detached itself from the darkness of the balcony doorway behind him.

THWIP.

A silenced gunshot clipped the edge of Mark's ear, spraying hot blood across the nursery wallpaper. Mark shrieked, spinning around wildly.

Elias stepped out of the shadows like an apparition of death. His coat was gone, his sleeves rolled up to reveal thick, corded forearms scarred from a decade of street warfare. His face was entirely devoid of human emotion—a mask of cold, calculated execution.

"You're standing in the wrong house, Mark," Elias said softly, his voice cutting through the room like a razor.

One of Mark’s mercenaries raised his rifle to fire, but Lev materialized from the hallway behind them, driving the butt of a tactical shotgun into the mercenary’s temple with bone-shattering force. The man crumpled to the floor like a sack of wet cement.

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Cold October wind whipped my hair across my face, but the stinging heat on my left cheek completely drowned out the chill. Mara stood beside me on the terrace, her hands clamped over her mouth as silent tears leaked down her mascara. Inside the glass doors, the jazz quartet had finally resumed playing, a jaunty, swinging tune that felt like a sick joke echoing across the luxury ballroom.

Cold October wind whipped my hair across my face, but the stinging heat...

Chapter 2 - The Ghost in the MachineWe bypassed the main elevators, taking the service stairs down to the underground valet level...

The silence after the bank call felt heavy, settling over Nora’s apartment like dust after a demolition. Her phone buzzed twice within sixty seconds—automated alerts from subscription services and utilities abruptly bouncing as the frozen card rejected them. She hadn't realized how deeply her entire life was tethered to that single piece of plastic until the umbilical cord was snapped in an instant.

The silence after the bank call felt heavy, settling over Nora’s apartme...

Evelyn’s fingers tapped rapidly against her scrub pocket, her expression locked in grim determination. The air inside the cramped storage closet smelled faintly of industrial detergent and powdered baby formula, a sterile scent that did little to calm the rising panic clawing at my throat.

Evelyn’s fingers tapped rapidly against her scrub pocket, her expression...

Mark panicked, swinging his pistol toward Elias.

Elias didn't hesitate. He closed the distance in two explosive strides, grabbed Mark’s wrist, and twisted it upward with a sickening pop of tearing cartilage. Mark screamed in agony as the pistol dropped from his limp fingers and clattered onto the hardwood floor.

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