FIVE YEARS LATERThe morning sun cuts through my office windows, casting sharp shadows across the quarterly reports scattered on my mahogany desk. Five years. Has it really been five years since Jessica's blood pooled between those cemetery headstones?I lean back in my leather chair, fingers drumming against the armrest. The Walton-Campbell empire isn't just rebuilt—it's stronger than ever. Alex runs the East Coast operations while Austin handles international markets. My boys. Twenty-three now, and sharper than razors in boardrooms that would've intimidated men twice their age."Mrs. Walton?" Tina's voice crackles through the intercom. Still calling me that after all these years, even though I've told her a hundred times to use my first name."Yes?""The Morrison family is here for their appointment."Right. The Morrisons. Another family torn apart by stalking, by revenge. The foundation we established—Jessica's victims, we call it privately—has helped dozens of families like theirs
"They help us took a life. That's not something you just get over, even when it's justified."I closed my eyes, feeling the weight of every decision that had led us to that warehouse. If I'd handled the divorce differently years ago. If I'd stayed and fought instead of running. If I'd told Michael about the boys from the beginning."Do you think we'll ever be normal again?" I asked.Michael was quiet for so long I thought he wasn't going to answer. Then: "I don't think we were ever normal to begin with. But maybe that's okay. Maybe normal is overrated.""The media is calling us the 'Billionaire Family of Secrets.'""Better than the 'Dead Billionaire Family,' which is what we would have been if you hadn't come back when you did."He was right. Jessica's plan had been methodical and thorough. If I hadn't returned with the boys, if we hadn't been together to face her, she would have picked us off one by one."I keep thinking about what she said," I admitted. "About how she'd waited ten y
But as the FBI agents burst through the warehouse doors, their flashlight beams cutting through the red-tinged darkness, I couldn't shake the feeling that Jessica's death was just the beginning of something else.Something worse.---The interrogation room at the FBI field office was sterile white and smelled like disinfectant. I sat across from Agent Crystal, my left arm in a sling, watching her flip through a thick file."Mrs. Walton, we need to go over the events at the warehouse one more time.""It's the fifth time." My voice came out hoarser than I intended. "Jessica Campbell held my mother-in-law hostage. She stabbed me. My husband shot her in self-defense when she was about to kill me."Agent Crystal looked up from her notes. "The forensics team found explosives throughout your business facilities. Remote detonators. Ms. Campbell had been planning this for long.""I know.""She murdered Marcus Miller Santos. Possibly others we haven't identified yet."I shifted in the hard plas
"They'll survive," she said. "Children are resilient. And maybe they'll learn something their parents never did—that actions have consequences."She started to press the button.The warehouse lights suddenly went out, plunging us into absolute darkness. In the chaos that followed—Elizabeth's scream, Michael's shout, the sound of running feet—one thought blazed through my mind with crystal clarity:The boys were here.And Jessica still had the detonator."Nobody move!" Jessica's voice cut through the blackness like a blade. "I can see in the dark better than you think. One wrong step and boom."My heart hammered against my ribs. Alex and Austin—God, they weren't supposed to be here. We'd planned this so carefully. The graduation was supposed to be the trap, not this nightmare."Jessica." Michael's voice, steady despite everything. "Let's talk about this."A laugh echoed from somewhere to my left. Cold. Unhinged. "Talk? Oh, we're way past talking, Michael. We're in the endgame now."I p
**Michael's POV**The warehouse loomed ahead like a concrete tomb. My hands gripped the steering wheel so tight my knuckles had gone white, but I couldn't stop the trembling. Jessica, holding my mother hostage in some godforsaken industrial wasteland warehouse."We should've waited for the FBI," Aria whispered beside me, her voice barely audible over the engine's idle.I killed the ignition. The silence hit us like a physical blow."She would've killed Elizabeth the moment she saw federal agents." My throat felt raw, scraped clean. "You know that."Aria's breathing was shallow, rapid. I could feel her fear radiating off her skin, mixing with my own until I couldn't tell where mine ended and hers began. Her phone buzzed—another text from the boys.*Dad, please don't do anything stupid. We need you both to come home.*"They're at the safe house?" I asked."With enough security to protect a small country." She tucked the phone away without responding to Alex's message. "But if we don't m
~ Jessica POV ~The morning sun filtered through the sheer curtains of Elizabeth Walton's bedroom, casting long shadows across the Persian rug. I stood in the doorway, watching her struggle with the buttons on her silk blouse. Seventy-three years old and still trying to maintain that perfect Walton facade, even when her mind was slipping away piece by piece."Who... who are you?" Her voice wavered, confused eyes darting between me and the door.Perfect. Today was one of her bad days."I'm Victoria, Mrs. Walton. Your nurse, remember?" The lie rolled off my tongue like honey. I'd been visiting her for months now, building trust during her lucid moments, planting seeds of confusion during the dark ones. "I'm here to help you get ready for your appointment."She blinked rapidly, her weathered hands trembling as she reached for the pearl necklace on her vanity. "Appointment? I don't... Nelson didn't tell me about any appointment.""Mr. Nelson is waiting downstairs." Another lie. Nelson was