My brother-in-law beat me until blood covered my face, my shoulder was dislocated, and his hands tightened around my throat until everything faded into darkness. My sister never tried to stop him. She only looked at me and said, “You should have signed over the house.” I woke in the hospital expecting defeat, only to find them already celebrating outside my room. But when my father’s attorney placed a sealed letter beside my bed, I smiled for the first time, because they had absolutely no idea what my father had left behind for me... and what I was about to take from them.

I stared at the glowing screen of the burner phone, my heart pounding fiercely against my ribs.

Daniel had planned to kill me and bury my body on the property even before he attacked me.

I quickly memorized the mysterious phone number before turning the device off and placing it back into the safe.

I grabbed the heavy, loaded revolver and carefully tucked it into the waistband of my jeans, hiding it beneath my oversized sweater.

There was a sudden, sharp knock at the bedroom door that made me jump.

"Clara, the notary is here early, so please come downstairs," Vanessa called out from the hallway.

I took a deep breath, adjusted my sling, and walked out of the room to face them.

When I reached the bottom of the grand wooden staircase, I froze in my tracks.

The man standing in the living room was not a standard legal professional wearing a neat suit.

He was massive, heavily tattooed, and had a thick, jagged scar running down the left side of his neck.

"Clara, this is Marcus, he drove all the way from the city to help us out today," Daniel said, gesturing to the giant man.

Marcus offered a chilling, dead-eyed smile that did not reach the rest of his face.

He placed a black leather briefcase onto the glass coffee table and popped the golden latches open.

I walked closer, playing the role of the defeated, submissive sister perfectly.

"I just need you to sign on the dotted line, sweetie," Marcus said in a deep, gravelly voice.

He pulled a thick stack of legal documents from the briefcase and slid them toward me.

As he moved the papers, I caught a glimpse of what else was hidden inside his bag.

Resting neatly next to his extra pens was a dark, heavy, silencer-equipped pistol.

This man wasn't here to notarize a real estate transaction.

He was the man Daniel had texted about bringing a shovel to the property.

I picked up the pen with my trembling right hand, stalling for as much time as possible.

"I need a glass of water before I sign anything, my throat is incredibly dry," I mumbled weakly.

Daniel rolled his eyes in profound annoyance but marched off toward the kitchen to get the water.

Vanessa pulled out her phone to take a phone call, stepping out onto the back patio and sliding the glass door shut.

I was left completely alone in the living room with the towering hitman.

“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,”

Marcus leaned forward, his massive hands resting flat on the legal documents.

"You really should sign it quickly, Clara, because I get paid double if things get messy," he whispered.

Chapter 3 - The Uninvited Guest