For five years, I had lived in complete darkness after an explosion took my sight, my wife, and my four-year-old daughter. Then one afternoon, my housekeeper’s three-year-old girl pointed a cheap flashlight straight into my eyes and whispered, “Mr. Grant… why do the black circles in your eyes get smaller when I turn the light on?” In that instant, everything I had believed about my blindness began to crack.

The deafening roar of the explosion echoed endlessly across the dark, turbulent water of the bay.

Bright orange flames began to lick the night sky, consuming the massive front wing of my luxurious mansion.

"Daniel is burning the entire estate to the ground," I said, my voice barely a whisper.

"He wants to make sure there is no evidence left of what they did to you," Hannah realized, her eyes wide with fear.

I quickly tied Dr. Hale’s unconscious hands and feet with heavy marine rope, tossing him roughly into the back of the speedboat.

I needed him alive to tell me exactly where my family was being held captive.

I jumped into the driver's seat and aggressively cranked the heavy ignition keys.

The powerful twin engines roared to life, vibrating intensely beneath our feet.

"Hold on tightly!" I yelled over the deafening engine noise.

I slammed the throttle completely forward, launching the sleek boat aggressively out of the hidden cavern.

We tore across the dark, choppy water, leaving a massive white wake behind us.

I looked back and saw dozens of heavily armed men swarming the cliffs with bright tactical flashlights.

A barrage of heavy-caliber bullets began hitting the water around us, throwing cold spray into our faces.

"Keep your heads down!" I commanded, violently spinning the steering wheel to execute evasive maneuvers.

I navigated the treacherous, rocky coastline purely by memory and my newly restored, crystal-clear vision.

The gunfire eventually faded into the distance as we slipped safely into the thick, rolling ocean fog.

We drove in tense, suffocating silence for nearly forty minutes until we reached a desolate, abandoned fishing pier in Brooklyn.

I docked the boat expertly, securing the heavy ropes to the rusted metal cleats.

Hale began to groan in the back of the boat, slowly regaining consciousness.

I dragged him roughly onto the creaking wooden pier and threw him hard against a piling.

"You are going to tell me exactly where my wife and daughter are right now," I growled, pressing my pistol against his forehead.

Hale coughed up a bit of blood and smiled with a sickening, broken arrogance.

"You are already far too late, Grant," Hale wheezed, spitting blood onto my expensive shoes.

"Daniel sent a heavily armed strike team to the medical facility the moment he realized you could see again."

My stomach plummeted violently at his terrifying words.

"Give me the exact address, or I will put a bullet in your kneecap," I threatened, pressing the barrel harder.

Suddenly, my encrypted cell phone began vibrating violently in my damp jacket pocket.

When my newborn 'passed away,' my mother-in-law leaned in and said

My Husband Left Me Alone in My Car While I Was in Labor

“You’re Dead When We Get Home,” He Snapped

I pulled it out and saw a live video feed flashing brightly on the cracked screen.

It was Daniel, standing in a brightly lit hospital room, holding a terrifyingly large knife against Caroline's throat.

Chapter 6 - The Burning Empire