In the eyes of my parents, I had forever been the ultimate disappointment of the family. "You are nothing short of a worthless failure," my mother m0cked cruelly. "Exactly like that pathetic old man rotting away in the shed!" My bl00d instantly turned to ice. I smashed open the locked door and discovered my grandfather st@rving, shivering uncontrollably, and barely clinging to life in the shadows. With cold precision, I lifted my phone. "Move in right now," I commanded. "We have highly dangerous suspects currently on site." My parents chuckled, entirely convinced I was just putting on a bluff... right up until heavily armed tactical trucks blockaded the house... and my grandfather managed to whisper one single sentence that changed our reality forever...

"Take heavy cover immediately!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, diving behind an armored transport vehicle.

A barrage of automatic gunfire shredded the wooden shed, sending sharp splinters flying through the rainy air.

These were not standard local criminals or ordinary thugs.

They moved in perfect tactical formation, executing military-grade suppression fire with terrifying precision.

I peered around the massive tire of the truck and aimed my pistol at the advancing line of attackers.

"Whitmore, I need an immediate status report on the high-value target!" I yelled over the deafening noise.

"The old man is secure inside the armored medevac unit, but we are completely pinned down!" Whitmore shouted back.

I noticed that Michael, Diane, and Brandon were no longer lying on the wet grass where we had left them.

The zip ties had been cleanly sliced open, and they were currently sprinting toward the unmarked black SUVs.

"They are making a run for it!" I shouted, firing three rapid shots toward the escaping vehicles.

One of the bullets shattered the back window of a fleeing SUV, but it barely slowed them down.

Brandon turned around just before climbing inside and threw a sinister, mocking wave in my direction.

"Do not let them breach the perimeter!" I ordered my remaining operators.

We unleashed a massive wave of returning fire, forcing the mercenaries to retreat behind their armored doors.

The engines of the black vehicles roared aggressively as they threw their cars into reverse and sped away into the stormy night.

The sudden silence that followed the intense firefight was heavy and absolutely terrifying.

I walked over to the spot where my supposed parents had been lying just minutes ago.

Lying in the mud was a small, metallic silver emblem that had fallen from Michael's jacket during his escape.

“Which daughter is yours?” should have been a harmless question

The first wineglass shattered at 8:07 p.m

The moment the mafia boss’s wife called me “an illiterate servant,”

I picked it up, feeling my blood freeze completely in my veins as I recognized the highly classified insignia.

It was the exact same logo belonging to the shadow intelligence division that I currently worked for.

Chapter 3 - The Standoff