Chapter 5 The shadow in the walls

The security lights did not come back on.

That was the first thing Lina noticed.

The Blackwood estate had backup generators, motion sensors, armed guards at every gate. Power outages were impossible here.

Yet the darkness outside their bedroom window felt alive.

Adrian stood perfectly still beside the bed, his phone still glowing with the message:

"The next move is ours."

Lina's fingers tightened around the black envelope she found on the floor by the door. No words written on it. Her heart pounded so hard she could hear it in her ears.

"This isn't random," she whispered.

Adrian's jaw clenched. "No. It's a message."

The hallway outside their room creaked.

Not loudly.

Just enough for them to hear.

Adrian moved instantly, guiding Lina behind him. His body became a shield without thought. He grabbed the handgun from the drawer and stepped toward the door.

"Stay here," he ordered quietly.

"I'm not staying alone," she shot back, fear sharpening her voice.

For one second, they locked eyes. The air between them was thick-not with romance this time, but survival.

Then another sound.

Closer.

A soft click.

Like a door closing somewhere deep in the mansion.

Adrian opened the bedroom door slowly.

The hallway was dark. Emergency lights flickered red along the walls, casting everything in a bloody glow. The portraits of past Blackwoods seemed to watch them as they stepped out.

"Security should be here by now," Lina whispered.

Adrian tapped his earpiece. "Report."

Static answered him.

Just static.

His expression changed.

That scared her more than the darkness.

They moved carefully down the hallway. At the staircase, Adrian froze.

The front doors were open.

Cold air spilled into the mansion.

Two guards lay on the marble floor.

Unconscious.

Lina's breath caught. "How did someone get past the gates?"

Adrian didn't answer.

Because he didn't know.

And Adrian Blackwood always knew.

A sudden crash echoed from his private office.

Lina flinched.

"That's where the old files are," she said.

The ones from before Vivian.

The ones that never made it to court.

Adrian's grip on his weapon tightened. "Stay behind me."

They descended the staircase slowly.

Every step felt like stepping into a trap.

The office door was slightly open. Smoke drifted out-not fire smoke, but something chemical.

Adrian pushed the door wide.

His safe was open.

Empty.

The backup drives were gone.

On his desk sat a single object.

A silver frame.

Inside it was a photograph of Adrian and Lina on their wedding day.

Except someone had drawn a black X across Adrian's face.

And written beneath it:

Wrong target.

Lina's knees nearly gave out.

"What does that mean?" she whispered.

Adrian's face had gone cold. Calculating.

"It means," he said slowly, "this was never about revenge against me."

A faint buzzing sound filled the room.

Lina frowned. "Do you hear that?"

Adrian's eyes scanned the walls.

There-near the bookshelf.

A small blinking red light.

His blood ran cold.

"Bomb," he said.

The word didn't feel real.

Lina stared at him, frozen. "You're joking."

"I never joke about bombs."

The timer was small. Digital. Already counting down.

02:17.

Her pulse roared in her ears.

"Can you stop it?" she asked.

Adrian stepped closer, studying the device. "It's not meant to destroy the house."

He swallowed.

"It's meant to destroy the office."

The evidence.

The past.

01:54.

Lina's mind raced. "Then let it destroy the room!"

"And lose every piece of proof that someone else is behind this?" His voice was sharp. "No."

He grabbed the safe's empty casing and pulled something from beneath it-a hidden secondary drive.

"You knew," she breathed.

"I suspected," he corrected.

01:28.

The buzzing grew louder.

Adrian grabbed her hand. "We have to move."

They ran.

Down the hallway.

Past the unconscious guards.

Through the front doors.

The cold night air slapped Lina's face as they cleared the entrance.

And the explosion ripped through the mansion.

Glass shattered.

Flames burst from the office windows.

The force knocked Lina off her feet.

Adrian shielded her with his body as debris rained down across the lawn.

For a moment, all she could hear was ringing.

Smoke curled into the sky.

The Blackwood estate...her prison, her battlefield...burned.

Adrian rolled off her, breathing hard. "Are you hurt?"

She shook her head, tears mixing with ash on her cheeks.

Sirens wailed in the distance.

But something felt wrong.

Adrian was staring at the flames-not shocked.

Angry.

"They wanted us outside," he said.

Lina's stomach dropped.

A slow clap echoed behind them.

They turned.

A figure stood near the gate.

Not hiding.

Not running.

Watching.

He stepped forward into the dim security light.

Familiar eyes.

Too familiar.

Lina's breath left her body.

"I know you," she whispered.

The man pulled back his hood.

Not a stranger.

Not a hired assassin.

Someone from inside.

Someone who had worked in the company years ago.

Someone presumed dead in a corporate accident tied to Blackwood expansion.

Adrian went still.

"That's impossible."

The man smiled faintly. "You should have looked deeper into your father's files."

Lina felt the world tilt.

This wasn't just corporate sabotage.

This was generational.

"You destroyed my family," the man said calmly. "Now I'll dismantle yours."

Police sirens grew louder.

The man stepped backward toward the shadows beyond the gate.

"You won't find me," he added. "But you'll feel me."

And then...

He was gone.

Adrian tried to follow, but Lina grabbed his arm.

"No," she whispered. "He wants you to chase him."

Flames reflected in Adrian's eyes.

For the first time, she didn't see fear in him.

She saw something darker.

War.

Fire trucks screeched into the driveway. Officers rushed past them. Chaos swallowed the moment.

But Lina couldn't stop staring at the open gate.

The estate had always felt like a fortress.

Now it felt like a trap.

As paramedics checked the guards and firefighters battled the blaze, Adrian's phone vibrated again.

Another unknown number.

He showed it to Lina.

A live video feed.

Her mother, gun pointed to her head.

Lina's scream tore through the night.

Adrian's blood turned to ice.

A final message appeared across the screen:

"Round two begins now."

The flames behind them roared higher.

And Lina realized something terrifying...

The bomb wasn't the real attack.

It was the distraction.

Her mother's life on the line.

Again.

What do they he want from her.