Chapter 3 - The Unraveling
Marisol didn't answer right away. She walked over to the window, watching the iron gates of the estate stretch out toward the tree-lined driveway.
"I used to work in child trauma recovery units in the city," Marisol said quietly, her back to him. "I’ve seen what happens when children are used as pawns in adult power struggles. When I saw the job listing for the Mercer estate, everyone warned me away. They said the boys were impossible, that the father was a monster. But I knew better. Monsters don't build empires to protect their families—they destroy them."
"And what if I am a monster?" Julian tested, stepping closer, studying the way she carried herself—too graceful, too fearless for someone working for a mafia boss.
"A monster wouldn't look at his sons with the kind of guilt you’re wearing right now," Marisol turned around, meeting his gaze head-on. "You’re a grieving father who lost his way. But time is running out, Mr. Mercer. The people who threatened your boys didn't disappear. They’re waiting for you to look away again."
Before Julian could respond, his phone buzzed violently in his pocket. It was Marcus.
"Boss, you need to come down to the security wing immediately," Marcus’s voice sounded tense, breathless. "We found an anomaly in the archives from the night of the tragedy. Someone wiped the external camera feeds... and it traces back to someone close to us."
Julian’s blood went cold. "I'm on my way."
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He rushed down to the basement bunker, his heart hammering against his ribs. But as he pushed open the heavy steel door of the security room, he didn't find Marcus. He found empty monitors flickering with static, a smoking computer terminal, and a single item left on the desk: a silver cufflink bearing the emblem of the Rossi syndicate—their fiercest rival family in New York.
Worse yet, a red flashing alert lit up the central console. The main gate sensors had just been tripped. An uninvited vehicle was speeding up the private driveway.
