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The sterile fluorescent lights of St. Jude’s General Hospital hummed with a low, oppressive frequency. Harrison Bennett sat on a plastic chair in the waiting alcove, his thousand-dollar Brioni suit smelling faintly of rain and hospital disinfectant. Across from him, curled into a corner of the vinyl bench like a broken question mark, Olivia had finally fallen asleep. Her face was flushed, her eyelashes damp with dried tears, her small fingers still instinctively clutching a single loose thread from Harrison’s coat sleeve. / Chapter 7 / 10

Chapter 7 - The Penthouse SiegeHarrison lunged sideways, tackling a heavy mahogany side table just as a burst of suppressed gunfire shattered the glass partition behind him. Shards of crystal rained down like diamonds.

"Get under the reinforced panic panel!" Harrison yelled to Olivia, pointing to the biometric floor safe behind the desk.

"I won't leave you!" Olivia cried, tears finally spilling over her cheeks.

"Go! Now!" Harrison roared, his adrenaline surging past the bounds of human fear.

He didn't have a weapon, but he had forty years of survival instincts honed by a childhood under Eleanor’s ruthless training. As the first mercenary stepped through the shattered doorway, Harrison hurled a heavy bronze sculpture—a priceless Rodin replica—directly into the man’s visor.

The mercenary staggered, his rifle discharging into the ceiling. Harrison closed the distance in a fraction of a second, driving his elbow into the man’s throat and stripping the weapon from his tactical sling.

"Clear the sector!" the second mercenary shouted, raising his rifle.

Before he could pull the trigger, the sound of glass shattering from above echoed through the office. A black-clad figure dropped through the skylight directly onto the second mercenary’s back, driving him face-first into the marble floor with a sickening crunch.

It was Detective Vance’s brother—Agent Jack Vance of federal tactical intelligence.

"Federal agents! Drop your weapons!" Jack shouted, leveling his service pistol at the remaining intruders.

Within seconds, the room was secured, the surviving mercenaries pinned to the floor in handcuffs. Jack Vance stepped over the wreckage, wiping a drop of blood from his cheek, and looked at Harrison, who was kneeling beside the desk to pull Olivia out from safety.

"You okay, kiddo?" Jack asked gently.

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Olivia wiped her eyes, looked at Harrison’s torn shirt, and nodded. "My dad beat up the bad guy."

Harrison let out a shaky breath, pulling Olivia tightly against his chest, realizing with terrifying clarity that the war for his family had only just begun.

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