Chapter 31 - THE UNOPENED LETTER
Three weeks later, the sanctuary was running smoothly, housing twenty rescued children from across the region.
Nora sat in her new director's office on the second floor, organizing administrative files.
A courier walked into the office, delivering a small wooden box wrapped in heavy brown paper from Europe.
The box was stamped with an official wax seal bearing a crest that Nora had never seen before.
Nora opened the package, finding an old silver baby rattle and a handwritten letter written on thick parchment paper.
She opened the folded letter, her eyes scanning the dark ink written in precise, elegant handwriting:
"My dear Nora, you put Agatha Thorne in her grave, but you failed to realize that she was merely a servant."
"The Vance trust fund you liquidated belonged to the Archduke Syndicate of Vienna."
"We have watched you build your little sanctuary in Charleston..."
"And next week, we are coming to collect the debt that your son Ethan still owes us."
Nora’s breath hitched in her throat as a photograph fell out from inside the envelope onto her desk.
It was a high-resolution photo taken earlier that afternoon, showing Ethan playing baseball on the sanctuary lawn.
Red crosshairs were drawn directly over Ethan’s chest in thick red marker.
Outside the window, the garden lights suddenly flickered and died, plunging the courtyard into eerie, dark silence.
Nora grabbed her phone to call Marcus, but the screen displayed a single chilling message: "Look out your window, Nora."
May you like
She slowly walked to the glass window, looking down into the dark courtyard below.
Standing beside the archway pillar, right under the US flag, was a tall man in a dark suit, holding a silver pocket watch that glinted in the moonlight.
