LOGINChristian did not move from where he sat. The room was dim, the faint glow of a single lamp casting long shadows across his face and sharpening the hard lines of his expression. His gaze was fixed on her, steady and unreadable, taking in every detail without missing anything. Daniella stood by the door, her body trembling slightly from exhaustion, pain, and the weight of everything she had just been through. Her clothes were stained, her skin bruised, and her leg barely supported her weight,
The black vehicle stopped several feet from them, its engine still running. For a moment, nobody moved. Daniella stood beside Christian, her eyes fixed on the passenger door as the silence around the old training house grew heavier.Then the door opened.A woman stepped out.Daniella’s breath caught.“Evelyn.”Her aunt closed the door slowly. She was dressed in dark clothes, her hair pulled back, and there was a pistol firmly held in her right hand.Christian immediately moved in front of Daniella.“Stay behind me.”Daniella barely heard him. She could not take her eyes off Evelyn.Her aunt looked at Christian, then at Marcus, and finally at Daniella. There was something different in her expression. She did not look triumphant. She did not look angry.She looked terrified.“Put the gun down,” Christian ordered.Evelyn’s fingers tightened around the weapon.“If I wanted to shoot you, Christian, I would have done it before stepping out of the car.”“That doesn’t answer my question.”“No
Silence filled the locked room.Daniella stared at the photograph in front of her, trying to make sense of what she had just heard.Her father.Thomas Harper.Samuel Reed.All standing together.Working together.Investigating the same enemy.For years, she had believed the Cruz family and the Harper family stood on opposite sides of a war. She had built her entire life around that belief. Every lesson her uncle taught her, every lie he fed her, every ounce of hatred she carried had been built on the idea that Christian’s family was connected to her father’s death.Now, another truth stood before her.Their fathers had been allies.Christian picked up the photograph again.“My father never spoke about this,” he said quietly.Samuel Reed sat down slowly in the old wooden chair.“That was intentional.”Daniella looked at him.“What do you mean?”Samuel sighed.“Your fathers agreed that if something happened to them, some secrets would die with them.”“Why?”“Because the wrong people alr
Daniella stood completely still.For twenty years, Samuel Reed had existed only as a name buried in old photographs and fragments of conversations. She had never expected to see the man himself, let alone have him appear at the very place where she had spent her childhood being trained by the man who murdered her father.Christian moved toward the window.“Stay here.”Daniella shook her head.“No.”He looked at her.“If that’s Samuel Reed, I’m going with you.”Christian studied her for a moment before nodding.Marcus moved ahead of them, weapon ready, while the others secured the room. Daniella followed Christian out of the training house and into the cold night air.The man standing beside the vehicle did not move.He was older than he had been in the photograph, his hair almost completely gray, his face marked by years of exhaustion. He wore a dark coat and held both hands where they could be seen.When his eyes landed on Daniella, something changed in his expression.He looked at h
The old training house stood in complete darkness when Daniella arrived.She remained inside the car for several seconds, staring through the windshield at the building that had once been the center of her entire childhood. Every wall held a memory she wished she could forget. Every room reminded her of the person she had been forced to become.Christian stepped out beside her and closed the car door.“You don’t have to go in if you’re not ready.”Daniella looked at him.“I’ve been ready for this since the day I found out my uncle lied to me.”Christian nodded.“Then we do it together.”Marcus and his men spread out around the property while Christian and Daniella entered through the same door they had used before.The training house was silent.Daniella switched on her flashlight and slowly walked through the corridor.She remembered being seven years old, standing in this same hallway while her uncle shouted at her because she had refused to continue training. She remembered the bru
The lights went out.Daniella froze.For a few seconds, the abandoned hospital disappeared into complete darkness. She could hear Evelyn breathing beside her, Christian shifting his position in front of them, and somewhere in the distance, the faint sound of footsteps moving through the corridor.“Don’t move,” Christian whispered.Daniella tightened her grip on the photograph.Someone was still inside the hospital.Someone who knew they were there.Someone who knew about the letter.A metallic click came from the hallway.Christian raised his weapon.“Show yourself.”No answer.Then a shadow moved across the doorway.Christian fired.The muzzle flash briefly illuminated the corridor, but whoever had been there was already gone.“Christian,” Daniella whispered.“I’m here.”She reached for his hand and found it.Evelyn was still crouched beside the wall, pressing her injured shoulder.Daniella looked down at the photograph.The man standing behind her father and uncle was still there, f
The gunshot shattered the room.Christian reacted instantly, throwing himself over Daniella as another bullet tore through the wall behind them. Glass from the broken window scattered across the floor, and Evelyn cried out as she fell against the old cabinet.“Stay down!” Christian shouted.Daniella’s heart hammered against her ribs. She pressed herself against the floor, barely breathing as another shot echoed somewhere outside.Then she heard Marcus shouting from the corridor.“Move! They’re on the east side!”Gunfire answered him.Christian lifted his head slightly, listening.“Marcus has them distracted.”Daniella looked across the room.Evelyn was lying on the floor, one hand pressed against her shoulder. Blood seeped between her fingers.“Aunt Evelyn.”Daniella started toward her.Christian caught her wrist.“Wait.”“She’s bleeding.”“I know. But we don’t know if there’s another shooter inside.”Daniella looked toward the doorway.Nothing moved.She pulled her wrist free.“We ca
The hot liquid hit her skin before her brain could process what was happening. “Aharhhhh!” Daniella staggered back instantly, the tray slipping slightly from her grip as the coffee soaked into her cloth. She glared at him hard, tears building up in her eye lids, a smirk escaping her lips, of
Daniella's eyes jerked open as tears rolled down from them, she slowly wiped the tears away trying to clear her vision still figuring out where she was, her brain relaxed and flicked back, of course this was her first night in this house. She yawned uncontrollably as she stretched her way out of
The door knob twisted sideways, Daniella froze, for a moment she felt her entire world crumbling right in front of her, the job hadn't even started yet and now she was going to be caught holy father. How did she not hear his car coming in? And just then her instinct kicked in, her brain acting fas
The night was filled with nothing but laughter, peace and joy music blasting every angel of the compound left right and center, people chatting happily and freely walking around with drinks in their hands. Ladies wore bun shorts patrolling the environment looking for men to absorb their millions.







