Chapter 1: The Fall
Chapter 1: The Fall
The wind tore the scream from my throat before it could escape.
Branches whipped across my face.
Rocks shattered beneath me.
Then—
Everything stopped.
Not because I had reached the ground.
Because something caught me.
A heavy rescue net stretched between two towering pines absorbed the impact, throwing me backward before slowly settling under my weight.
I gasped.
Alive.
Above me, the three men peered over the cliff, confused.
One cursed.
"She should be dead."
Moments later they began climbing down the narrow trail, determined to recover my body.
They couldn't leave witnesses.
What they didn't know...
I had expected Daniel to make his move.
Two days earlier, after discovering the insurance policy, I had contacted the only person I still trusted—my father.
Former military.
Founder of the security company that protected diplomats and billionaires around the world.
He listened without interrupting.
When I finished, he asked only one question.
"Do you trust me?"
"With my life."
By sunrise the next morning, his team had already surveyed the mountain.
Thermal cameras.
Hidden drones.
Medical crews.
Snipers positioned on nearby ridges.
The rescue net wasn't there by accident.
Neither were the men waiting below.
As Daniel's hired killers reached the valley floor, powerful flashlights surrounded them.
"Don't move."
More than a dozen armed security officers stepped from the trees.
Laser sights painted red dots across the attackers' chests.
One dropped his weapon immediately.
Another tried to run.
A tranquilizer round struck him before he made it ten steps.
Within seconds every one of them was on their knees.
Then someone spoke through an earpiece.
"Primary target is descending."
Daniel.
He was coming down to confirm my death himself.
He smiled as he reached the bottom.
The smile disappeared the instant he saw me standing beside my father.
Alive.
Uninjured.
Waiting.
His face turned white.
"I... I can explain."
"No," my father replied calmly.
"You've already explained everything."
He held up the insurance policy.
"The emails."
"The GPS records."
"And every phone call you've made this week."
Daniel staggered backward.
May you like
For the first time in years...
He looked afraid.
