Chapter 3 - The Ghost in the Mansion
The rain poured in sheets over the Vanguard estate. At 2:00 AM, the mansion's advanced security system silently shut down. A shadow moved through the eastern wing—Julian, the family’s long-time 'cleaner.' He was a ghost, a man who specialized in making problems disappear without a trace.
He bypassed the clinic security where Clara was supposed to be sleeping. He slipped into her room, a syringe filled with a lethal dose of potassium chloride in his hand. He stepped toward the bed, raised the needle, and drove it down into the figure beneath the sheets.
The needle met empty space. Pillows.
Before Julian could react, the lights flashed on. Clara wasn't in the bed; she was standing by the door, holding a heavy-caliber taser. Before he could turn, she fired. Two prongs slammed into his chest, sending thousands of volts coursing through his body. He collapsed, convulsing violently on the floor.
Clara walked over to him, stepping over his twitching form. She took his phone from his pocket, used his thumb to unlock it, and sent a single text to Evelyn: It is done. The girl is gone.
Back at the mansion, Evelyn received the text. She let out a sigh of relief, pouring herself another drink. The burning sensation on her chest had escalated to a terrifying tightness in her lungs, but she assumed it was just stress. With Clara dead, the lawsuit would collapse. The Vanguard empire was safe.
"Richard!" she called out, walking down the grand hallway toward her son’s room. "Richard, it's over. Julian handled it."
She pushed his door open. The room was dark, illuminated only by the flashes of lightning outside. Richard was sitting in his leather armchair, his back to her.
"Richard?" Evelyn walked forward, reaching out to touch his shoulder.
The chair spun around. It wasn't Richard.
It was a mannequin from the garage, dressed in Richard’s clothes. Taped to the mannequin’s face was a tablet screen. The screen suddenly lit up, showing a live video feed of the mansion’s basement.
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There, tied to a chair, gagged, and terrified, was the real Richard. And standing right behind him, holding a heavy iron wrench over his head, was a man Evelyn recognized all too well—Clara's supposedly deceased father, Arthur.
The Trending Hook: The hitman failed, and the hunter became the hunted! Evelyn thought her daughter-in-law was dead, but she just opened the door to a living nightmare. What happens when the past comes back for blood? Keep reading Chapter 4!
