Chapter 2

The sound of Alondra's heels hitting the marble stairs echoed through the massive house.

Each step was measured, rhythmic, and heavy with authority.

Howard Frank sat on the genuine leather sofa in the center of the living room.

He held a crystal glass of whiskey. His thick eyebrows pulled together as he watched his adopted daughter descend the stairs. She looked entirely different. The pathetic slouch was gone.

Brenda and Chloe hurried down the stairs behind her.

They clung to each other, crying loudly to Howard about how Alondra had lost her mind and assaulted Vince.

Howard slammed his whiskey glass down on the glass coffee table.

The liquid sloshed over the rim. He stood up, his face red with fury, yelling that Alondra had just ruined a ten-million-dollar financing deal for the family.

Alondra stopped on the opposite side of the coffee table.

Her eyes dropped to the open financial documents scattered next to his glass. In less than three seconds, her trained mind processed the numbers and saw the gaping holes in the Frank family's hedge fund.

A harsh, mocking laugh escaped her lips.

"The foundation of your entire portfolio is built on fragile confidence and lies," Alondra stated, her voice calm and analytical, stripping away the financial jargon to expose the raw human desperation underneath. "That man, Vince Pollock? His micro-expressions, the unnatural sweat on his brow, and the panicked look in his dead eyes tell me he is a drowning man. He isn't throwing you a lifeline; he is handing you an anchor. Within three days, the moment market sentiment shifts, you will be completely liquidated."

Howard's face drained of color.

His stomach knotted. He had suspected the numbers were too good to be true, but his massive ego refused to let him admit that a uneducated country girl had spotted the fraud in seconds.

He puffed out his chest, asserting his dominance.

He pointed at the front door and formally declared that she was stripped of the Frank name. He ordered her out of his house immediately.

Chloe peeked out from behind her mother.

A triumphant smile stretched across her face. With Alondra gone, she was the sole heir to the family wealth and social standing.

Howard reached into his tailored suit jacket.

He pulled out a generic, unnamed prepaid debit card and tossed it onto the expensive Persian rug like he was feeding a stray dog.

"There is five hundred dollars on that card," Howard sneered. "Buy a bus ticket and crawl back to the trailer park where your real parents live."

Brenda crossed her arms, her lips curling in disgust.

"They are alcoholic white trash," Brenda added sharply. "Go enjoy your new life in the slums."

Alondra didn't even glance at the plastic card on the floor.

She looked at the three of them with a mixture of profound pity and absolute mockery.

She shifted her weight.

The sharp, metal tip of her stiletto came down hard on the debit card. The plastic snapped and bent under her heel.

Howard's neck veins bulged.

He roared for the security guards to come in and drag her out by her hair.

The heavy front doors opened.

Two massive, muscle-bound bodyguards rushed into the living room. One of them reached out a thick hand to grab Alondra's shoulder.

Alondra shifted her right foot back a fraction of an inch.

She dodged his hand, grabbed his thick wrist, twisted it against the joint, and used his own forward momentum to throw him.

The bodyguard crashed heavily into the glass coffee table.

The thick glass shattered into a thousand pieces with a deafening crash. The man groaned, rolling in the shards. The second guard froze in his tracks, his eyes wide with shock.

Howard, Brenda, and Chloe screamed.

They scrambled backward, falling onto the sofa to get away from the violence.

Alondra dusted off her palms.

She looked down at Howard, who was sweating profusely.

"Your core tech stock holdings will crash in exactly three days," Alondra stated, using precise, high-level Wall Street terminology. "Your over-leveraged positions will trigger a margin call you cannot meet."

Howard's breath caught in his throat.

The absolute certainty in her voice, combined with the classified financial data she just casually recited, gripped his heart with icy terror.

Alondra turned away.

She didn't look at the expensive art or the designer coats in the closet. She picked up the faded, worn canvas bag she had brought with her years ago.

She walked to the front door and paused.

She looked over her shoulder one last time. "Enjoy your bankruptcy."

She pulled the heavy door open and let it slam shut behind her.

The heavy wood cut off Chloe's hysterical screaming and Howard's frantic cursing.

Alondra took a deep breath.

The cool night air of Southern California filled her lungs. The physical sensation grounded her, solidifying the fusion of her ancient soul with this young body.

She walked down the wide, tree-lined avenue of Beverly Hills.

Her mind was already calculating her next move, sifting through the lies the Franks had told her to find the truth about her biological parents.

A cold wind whipped down the street.

Her thin dress offered no protection, but she kept her spine perfectly straight, her steps even.

A massive black Range Rover sped past her.

Its heavy tires hit a puddle, splashing dirty water that narrowly missed her legs.

Alondra stopped.

Through the quiet night air, she watched the massive vehicle slam on its brakes and pull over at the intersection ahead. The rear window was halfway down. Even from a distance, the harsh, flickering streetlights illuminated the terrifying silhouette of a man inside, his body convulsing violently against the premium leather seats in a silent, desperate struggle for air.