Chapter 2 - The Shattered Glass
I stared at the cheap plastic phone as if it had transformed into a venomous snake.
Elena had died in the same fiery car crash that had supposedly taken my daughter.
I had personally buried two closed caskets while the city rained around me.
Elena, where are you? I demanded, my voice cracking for the first time in a decade.
The line went completely dead.
I threw the phone across the room and drew the heavy pistol from my shoulder holster.
I grabbed Grace by the collar of her maid uniform and slammed her against the marble wall.
Explain to me why my dead wife is calling you on a burner phone.
Grace sobbed, tears spilling rapidly down her pale cheeks.
I was a pediatric nurse at the hospital the night your family was brought in.
Your wife was not injured in the crash.
She paid me everything she had to help her smuggle Mia out of the city and fake their deaths.
I tightened my grip on her collar, my mind violently rejecting the betrayal.
Why would my wife fake her own death to escape me?
Grace looked me directly in the eyes with a courage I did not expect.
Because she discovered that you were secretly working for the Syndicate.
She knew they would eventually use Mia as leverage to control you.
Before I could defend myself, a deafening explosion ripped through the front gates of my estate.
The massive crystal chandelier above the dining table swung violently, raining shattered glass down upon us.
Marcus rushed into the room, his assault rifle raised.
Boss, we have multiple heavily armed hostiles breaching the perimeter.
They are wearing tactical gear, and they are not taking any prisoners.
I grabbed Amara from her chair and shoved her into her mother's arms.
We are going to the underground panic room right now.
I turned to Marcus to give him defensive orders, but the words died in my throat.
May you like
Marcus was aiming his assault rifle directly at my chest.
I am sorry, Boss, but the Syndicate pays significantly better than you do.
