Chapter 4

Carma slipped Dion's business card into the hidden seam of her bra, the movement causing a sharp, stinging reminder of the jagged cuts on the soles of her feet. She walked gingerly to the window, her weight shifting to her heels to avoid reopening the fresh bandages the St. Jude staff had applied, and watched his black SUV disappear down the mountain road.

Across the Atlantic, night had fallen over Washington D.C., where the Kirk estate blazed with light. Inside the massive formal dining room, the air was thick and suffocating, flavored by the scent of expensive wine and decades of resentment.

Helene Kirk, the family matriarch, sat at the head of the long mahogany table, her spine as rigid as the silver she held. Johnie sat at the opposite end, her posture a practiced mask of suburban grace. The maids served the rare steaks in absolute silence, their eyes downcast.

Helene picked up her silver steak knife and cut into the meat, the blade scraping loudly against the porcelain with a sound like a whetted tooth. "Where is Carma staying when she returns?" Helene asked, her voice dry and commanding, cutting through the silence.

Johnie set her wine glass down, forcing a tight, polite smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I thought the east wing guest room. It's quiet, tucked away. Perfect for her recovery."

Helene slammed her knife and fork down, the heavy silver cracking against the plate with the force of a gavel. The maids froze in mid-motion. "She is the eldest daughter of this house," Helene snapped, her eyes narrowing into cold, judgmental slits. "You will not hide her in the servants' wing like a dirty secret. The press is watching, and the Kirks do not hide their own."

Johnie's face paled under the chandelier light. "The east wing is perfectly fine-"

"She is crazy!" Christel, Johnie's daughter, blurted out, her voice high and petulant. "She doesn't deserve the main house after the embarrassment she's caused!"

Helene slammed her gold-topped cane into the floorboards, the sharp crack echoing like a gunshot. Christel flinched, dropping her gaze instantly to her lap. "She will take the second-floor luxury suite," Helene ordered. "The one with the integrated security system and the private terrace."

Johnie's breath hitched, her fingernails digging painfully into her palms. That was the suite she had spent a fortune renovating for her own use after Carma was sent away. "That is my dressing room," she hissed, her composure fraying. "My gowns, my jewelry... Grafton won't want the house disrupted-"

"My son's Senate seat and this family's legacy are worth more than your fabric," Helene sneered, standing up. "Move your things. Tonight."

Dinner ended in a dead, ringing silence. Johnie marched up to the master bedroom, her heels clicking like a countdown. She grabbed a heavy crystal vase from the console table and hurled it at the wall, watching it shatter into a thousand jagged diamonds. Her nanny and confidante, Patience Pruitt, rushed forward, keeping her head down to avoid the shrapnel of her mistress's rage. "I will not let that little bitch walk back into this house alive," Johnie hissed, her chest heaving with murderous intent.

Back in the Swiss Alps, the late-night silence of Carma's suite was broken by the vibration of a cheap, untraceable flip phone. The screen lit up with a single encrypted text message from Lawson's spy: Corbin landed in Zurich an hour ago. He is driving through the night to reach you by dawn.

Carma typed Received. She pulled the battery out, snapped the SIM card in half, and flushed the pieces down the toilet, her movements methodical. She walked to her suitcase and pulled out a micro-recorder disguised as a lipstick tube, checking the charge.

In the bathroom, she turned on the cold water and splashed it violently against her face until her skin was ghost-white and freezing. She applied a thick layer of pale foundation over her lips to mimic the look of anemia and exhaustion.

She crawled into bed and stared at the ceiling, mentally rehearsing the psychological traps she had set for her cousin. As the first gray light of dawn touched the peaks, the screech of tires outside the retreat broke the stillness. Heavy, aggressive boots soon pounded down the stone hallway toward her door.

Carma's eyes snapped open, a cold, predatory thrill shot through her veins. She reached up and violently tore the collar of her silk pajamas, exposing her collarbone to look disheveled. She swung her legs out of bed, her feet hissing in pain as they touched the cold stone floor, the blood beginning to bloom through her fresh bandages. She stood her ground, trembling by design, and waited for the door to break.