Chapter 5 - The Ambush at the Gates
Two days had passed since the night at the hospital.
Ethan was recovering remarkably well, his natural resilience boosted by the removal of the sedatives and the constant, loving care Lily provided. He was eating again, smiling, and occasionally babbling in his crib with a brightness that had been missing since the day Lily arrived at the mansion.
Serena Montague had been quietly removed from the estate under armed guard, her father finally bowing to Victor’s terrifying ultimatum after being presented with undeniable financial and legal evidence of child endangerment and corporate conspiracy involving Adrian.
Adrian himself was currently being interrogated in a secure basement facility beneath the Blackwood shipping docks.
For the first time in months, the mansion felt peaceful.
On a crisp Thursday afternoon, Lily took Ethan out into the secure inner courtyard of the estate. The sun was shining brightly, casting a warm golden hue over the manicured boxwood hedges and the sparkling fountain in the center of the stone patio.
Ethan sat in his stroller, laughing as Lily blew bubbles into the crisp autumn air.
“Look at them, Ethan! Up, up, up!” Lily giggled, watching the iridescent spheres float toward the blue sky.
She felt lighter. For the first time since fleeing St. Louis, the knot of constant paranoia in her chest had loosened. Victor had doubled her security detail, ensuring she and Ethan were never left unattended, but he had also spent hours talking with her in the library each evening, listening to her thoughts, sharing pieces of his own guarded world.
A shadow fell across the patio.
Lily paused, lowering the bubble wand.
Standing at the iron gate of the inner courtyard was a man in a rumpled trench coat.
At first, Lily thought it was one of Victor’s security guards. But as the man stepped closer, peering through the intricate scrollwork of the gate, the blood drained entirely from Lily’s face.
Her breath hitched. Her hands began to shake so violently she dropped the bubble wand.
It couldn't be.
It was a hallucination born of trauma. A nightmare waking up in the daylight.
“Hello, Lily,” a voice called out through the gate—smooth, familiar, and dripping with venomous control.
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Derek Vance smiled, gripping the iron bars with both hands.
“Did you really think you could hide from me forever behind a rich man’s gates?”
