Chapter 10 - The price of peace
I screamed at the bewildered police boat captain to dock immediately so I could get to the hospital.
We sped toward the emergency room in a squad car, surrounded by a heavy, blaring police escort.
I burst through the hospital entrance doors with Lily clinging tightly and securely to my neck.
My elite private security team was standing right outside Sarah's room, heavily battered, bleeding, but entirely victorious.
They had successfully intercepted Marcus's hired assassins just seconds before the killers could reach her hospital bed.
I walked into the quiet room, warm tears streaming down my face, and gently placed Lily into her mother's open arms.
The horrifying nightmare that had inexplicably started with exactly eleven dollars and thirty-seven cents was finally over.
Marcus was permanently arrested for attempted murder, and the corrupt family trust fund was legally completely dismantled.
Six peaceful months later, Sarah fully recovered her strength, and we officially became a real, happy family.
I legally adopted Lily, and we spent a beautiful, sunny afternoon eating strawberry ice cream in the local park.
I watched my perfect daughter laugh, realizing I had finally found exactly what she was trying to buy that rainy day.
Later that evening, I walked out to the metal mailbox outside our new, peaceful suburban home.
I pulled out a blank white envelope with no return address and tore it open carefully.
Inside was a high-resolution photograph of Lily playing at the park today, clearly taken through the crosshairs of a sniper rifle.
May you like
A small, handwritten note was neatly clipped to the back of the terrifying picture.
It read, "Your brother was just the middleman."
