Chapter 1
The chilling resonance of those five words hung suspended in the sterile air of the marble bathroom. Chloe clutched the black smartphone so tightly her knuckles turned chalk-white against the screen.
Through the clear glass-paned door, Richard and Eleanor stared with cold, unyielding indifference at her suffering. The pool of blood on the pristine white floor spread wider, mirroring the sinking panic in her chest.
"We have your location and the perimeter is secured," the gravelly voice on the line whispered with deadly precision. Chloe let out a shuddering breath, her tear-stained face hardening as raw survival instinct took over.
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Outside the glass partition, Eleanor crossed her arms in her emerald green lace dress, tapping her expensive heel impatiently. "Finish whatever business you have in there, Chloe, and stop making a theatrical scene for the cameras," Eleanor sneered.
Richard adjusted his charcoal grey tuxedo jacket, his expression completely devoid of the warmth a husband should possess. "Listen to my mother, Chloe, and don't make this harder than it already needs to be," Richard warned coldly.
