Chapter 4 - The Traitor Inside
The massive playroom was plunged into terrifying darkness.
The emergency red backup lights flickered on, casting a bloody glow across the walls.
Lily began to scream, burying her face into Maria's shoulder.
I pulled them both behind a heavy wooden bookshelf, trying to shield them from the door.
I realized Marcus had betrayed me and locked us inside my own home.
He had sold his loyalty to Victoria's family for a price I could not even imagine.
Footsteps echoed outside the heavy oak doors, followed by the metallic click of an assault rifle.
I knew my security team was highly trained to clear rooms with lethal efficiency.
I had personally paid millions to turn them into the best private army in the country.
Now, that exact army was hunting me down.
I scanned the dark room, desperately looking for any possible escape route.
I remembered the old architectural blueprints I had reviewed when renovating the east wing.
There was a hidden maintenance shaft behind the grand fireplace that led to the underground wine cellar.
I grabbed a heavy bronze statue from a nearby table.
I hurled the statue straight through the glass pane of the locked door to create a deafening distraction.
As the guards fired blindly through the shattered glass, I pushed Maria and Lily toward the fireplace.
I kicked the loose brick panel, revealing the dark, narrow tunnel.
I shoved them inside and crawled in right behind them, pulling the panel shut.
We crawled through the suffocating darkness for what felt like hours.
We finally dropped into the dusty wine cellar, gasping for fresh air.
I bypassed the electronic lock on the cellar door using a manual override code only I knew.
We slipped out into the freezing night air, hiding in the shadows of the massive hedges.
We ran toward my private garage, where my collection of sports cars sat quietly in the dark.
I threw Maria the keys to a heavily armored black SUV.
I told her to buckle Lily in while I opened the reinforced garage doors.
As I hit the control panel, a red laser sight danced across my chest.
May you like
A voice echoed from the shadows, warning me not to move another inch.
It was my personal assistant, holding a suppressed pistol aimed directly at my heart.
