on gates. The tires crunched softly against

retched out on either side. At the end of the drive sat the massive stone archit

to a halt at th

t. He walked around the rear

ray prison-issued shirt. Her posture was absolute. She did not look at the to

oached, the heavy oak double doors were pulled

faintly of lemon polish and old money. Her cheap shoes echo

sharp, angry sounds of a heated a

is just prolonging the agon

ushing open the heavy living

hands waving wildly. Eleanor Vanderbilt sat rigidly on a green v

ice care is the only logical st

ace. Her face was pale, her eyes bloodshot from lac

voice shaking but firm. "The specialist I contacted on the dark w

laugh. "You are trusting an anonymous internet sca

he living room. She stood still for a sec

ound was quiet, but it cut th

rd the archway simultaneously. They stared at

r faded gray clothes, her lack of makeup, and h

ont gate?" Preston demanded, his

l's face, her mind racing as she matched the facial features

She turned to her siblings. "This is her. This is

saucer. The porcelain clattered loudly.

ured finger at Isabel. "She looks barely out of high sch

his forehead throbbed. "You have lost your mind, Helene! Y

ming. Her face remained a

d up the thick stack of Matilda's printed medical charts. She didn't flip through the pages. She didn't even l

e opene

cited, her voice flat and absolute. "But your doctors failed to record the micro-tremors in her left hand, specifically the index and

nto a dead, suf

care physicians and the family knew about the micro-tremors. It was e

ope. She rushed forward, stopping inches from

into Helene's tear-fill

death," Isabel declared, her tone dripp

rom his pocket, his thumb jabbing at the screen. "I am calli

e crossed her arms over her

t the second I walk out that door, y

heavy oak door behind them swung o

on in the room shifted, sucked toward th

Eleanor's hand tightened around he

omeone who had never been told to hurry in his life. Two armed guards fl

a perfectly fitted black suit with no tie. His dark hair was slightly disheveled, as if he had been running his

n't acknowledge the argument he had cl

at somehow carried more weight than Preston's sho

blinking. "And you must be t

perhaps, or curiosity-flickered

woman the world's best neurologists have abandoned," Axel said. He pushed off

," Isabel

s tall enough that she had to tilt her chin

ed lower, meant only for her. "If you fail, I ta

ing into a cold, confident smile. "Every single time you see

oked sound of disbel

simply stared at her. Then he tilted his head, stud

bled into her space. "If I win, I don't just take your life. I take everything. Your secrets. You

ine. But when I win, you don't

absolute. Even the guards at

, stretched-out moment. Then, slow

," he

case, pausing at the first step. He looked over his shoulde

in particular. "And if she turns out to be a fra

ving Isabel standing in the center of the shattered, silen

ked into th

ended t