Chapter 2 - Shadows on the Perimeter
The estate was swallowed by red emergency lights. Armed men in black tactical gear moved silently down the sprawling corridors. Alexander immediately pulled Clara and Lily into his private study behind reinforced oak doors.
""Stay here. Keep the deadbolt locked until you hear my voice,"" Alexander ordered, checking the magazine of his sidearm.
""Who are they?"" Clara asked, shielding Lily against her neck. The baby whimpered, picking up on the sudden spike of adrenaline in the room.
""Rivals who think a broken man can't protect his empire,"" Alexander snapped, turning to face her. ""Don't open this door for anyone else. Do you understand?""
Clara nodded slowly. ""Be careful, Alexander.""
The informal slip of his first name caught him off guard, but the shrill sound of a distant window shattering forced him through the doorway. The lock clicked heavily behind him.
Outside, the rain beat against the gothic mansion. Alexander joined Marcus in the courtyard where searchlights crisscrossed the wet lawn. A dead security monitor lay smashed in the flowerbed, wires severed with surgical precision.
""They didn't come to kill, boss,"" Marcus muttered, shining a tactical light on the mud. ""Footprints lead away, not in. It was a drop-off.""
At the base of the weeping willow by the gate lay a solitary package: a waterproof black envelope bearing an embossed gold seal that Alexander recognized with chilling dread. It was the crest of the Thorne Syndicate—the ruthless shipping conglomerate his late wife, Eleanor, had spent her youth trying to escape.
With trembling hands, Alexander slit the seal. Inside was a single high-resolution photograph taken through a long-range lens. It showed Clara standing on a public street corner two weeks ago, handing an identical carved wooden bunny to an unidentified man in an unmarked black sedan.
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On the back was a handwritten message: You welcomed the viper into your nursery.
A gunshot echoed from the direction of the study.
