The man collapsed against me, his full weight slamming me into the apartment doorway. Blood poured from beneath his expensive suit jacket, staining my hardwood floor dark red. My mind screamed to panic, but instinct moved faster. I pulled him inside, locked the door, and dropped the deadbolt into place.<\/p>\n
I grabbed a towel from the kitchen and pressed it against the wound on his shoulder. \u201cWho are you? What contract are you talking about?\u201d<\/p>\n
He winced, breathing unevenly as his eyes scanned my tiny apartment. \u201cName\u2019s Vance,\u201d he muttered. \u201cYour parents worked with me. And you need to understand something right now\u2026 you never won the lottery.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words hit harder than the blood on my hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was never a drawing,\u201d he continued. \u201cThat money was an escrow account \u2014 a hostage exchange disguised as an inheritance.\u201d<\/p>\n
My pulse pounded in my ears while he forced himself upright against the wall.<\/p>\n
Your parents weren\u2019t ordinary workers. They were elite corporate spies who stole a quantum decryption key from an underground organization known only as the Syndicate.<\/p>\n
The so-called \u201c$50 million jackpot\u201d was actually ransom money. The Syndicate deposited it into a heavily monitored trust account.<\/p>\n
As long as the money stayed untouched, both sides honored the agreement. The Syndicate believed your parents were still alive and keeping quiet. Your parents trusted the Syndicate wouldn\u2019t hunt them down.<\/p>\n
The untouched account was the peace treaty.<\/p>\n
Then I remembered what I had done two days earlier \u2014 transferring every cent into a global charity network because I thought the money was cursed.<\/p>\n
Vance saw the realization on my face.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t just empty the account,\u201d he whispered. \u201cYou shattered the escrow seal. The Syndicate thinks the truce is over.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey either believe your parents are dead\u2026 or they think you\u2019ve decided to make the first move.\u201d He coughed violently before gripping my arm. \u201cThe second that transfer cleared, strike teams were sent to this address.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everything I believed about my life collapsed in seconds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey didn\u2019t abandon you because they didn\u2019t love you,\u201d Vance said quietly. \u201cThey disappeared to keep you outside the blast radius.\u201d<\/p>\n
With trembling hands, he pulled a matte-black keycard and a suppressed pistol from inside his coat and shoved them toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI owed your father my life,\u201d he murmured. \u201cI came to warn you, but they tracked me here. You\u2019ve got maybe three minutes before they breach this floor.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at the gun in disbelief. \u201cI\u2019m an accountant,\u201d I said shakily. \u201cI don\u2019t know how to survive this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vance gave a weak grin. \u201cThe charity you donated the money to\u2026 check the board members. Those names are fake. It\u2019s your parents\u2019 network.\u201d His eyes narrowed. \u201cYou didn\u2019t donate the money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou financed a private army.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heavy boots thundered down the hallway outside.<\/p>\n
The elevator dinged.<\/p>\n
I looked at the blood spreading across my floor, the weapon trembling in my hand, and the door separating me from the people who destroyed my family.<\/p>\n
For seventeen years, I believed I had inherited a curse.<\/p>\n
Now I was ready to become one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"