Chapter 1 - The Voice in the Dark
I froze completely when I heard my name spoken from the shadows.
The voice was incredibly weak, but the familiar tone sent a sudden shockwave through my entire body.
I slowly stepped past the young girl and walked into the dim living room.
The stale air felt heavy as I approached the small, sunken bed.
A woman lay beneath a thin blanket, her skin terribly pale and her breathing shallow.
I stared down at her, my mind refusing to accept the impossible truth right in front of me.
It was Sarah Jenkins.
She was my childhood best friend and the only person who had ever protected me when we lived on the unforgiving streets.
I had spent the last eight years believing she was dead after a warehouse fire destroyed our old neighborhood.
Now, she was lying in one of my own dilapidated apartment buildings, dying right in front of my eyes.
"You are alive," I whispered, feeling a sudden surge of overwhelming emotion.
Sarah offered a weak, trembling smile as a tear rolled down her hollow cheek.
"I had to hide from them, Nathan," she coughed, clutching her chest in visible agony.
I knelt beside the bed, completely ignoring the grime on the floor.
"Who did this to you?" I demanded, my voice hardening with protective anger.
She looked nervously toward the little girl who was still sitting quietly by the sewing machine.
"Lily is your daughter, Nathan," Sarah confessed, the words hitting me with the force of a speeding train.
I could not breathe as I turned to look at the seven-year-old girl with the bleeding fingers.
She had my exact eyes.
I realized I had abandoned the woman I loved and my own unborn child without ever knowing the truth.
My massive corporate empire suddenly felt entirely worthless compared to the family suffering in this tiny room.
Before I could even begin to process the magnitude of this revelation, the sound of heavy boots echoed in the hallway.
The flimsy apartment door was violently kicked off its hinges, crashing loudly onto the floor.
Three massive men in expensive tactical suits stepped into the room with silenced pistols drawn.
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The lead gunman aimed his weapon directly at Lily's head and smiled.
"Mr. Thorne sends his regards, Nathan," the killer whispered coldly.
