Jane couldn’t sleep.
Every time she closed her eyes…
She saw blood.
Not just blood.
A man collapsing.
A gun slipping from trembling fingers.
And a voice.
“Shoot.”
She gasped awake.
Her hands were shaking.
There was another voice.
Calm.
Cold.
Familiar.
“Again.”
Jane clutched her head.
“No…”
The memory vanished before she could see the man’s face.
Across the estate…
Hawk sat alone in his room.
On the table was an old photograph.
His brother smiled at the camera with one arm draped around Hawk’s shoulder.
Hawk traced the edge of the picture.
“I promised I’d avenge you.”
But for the first time…
His voice lacked conviction.
Jane’s frightened eyes kept invading his thoughts.
That wasn’t the face of someone who enjoyed killing.
So why had she pulled the trigger?
Meanwhile…
Victor descended into the restricted laboratory beneath the mansion.
Rows of glass containers held dozens of vials.
Each marked with the same symbol.
Project Eirene.
Victor picked up a vial filled with pale blue liquid.
His chief scientist entered.
“The latest tests confirm it.”
Victor didn’t look away from the vial.
“The effects are fading.”
“The subject is beginning to recover fragmented memories.”
Victor’s expression darkened.
“Increase surveillance.”
“Should we administer another dose?”
Victor remained silent.
Then…
“No.”
The scientist looked surprised.
“If we force the medicine again…”
“…she’ll know I’ve been lying.”
Victor returned the vial to its case.
“I need her trust.”
Even if that trust had been built on lies.
Later that afternoon…
Jane wandered back to the greenhouse alone.
She needed air.
She knelt beside a bed of white flowers, running her fingers through the petals.
Something caught her eye.
A tiny brass object hidden beneath the soil.
She dug it out.
A bullet casing.
Old.
Corroded.
She frowned.
Why would there be a spent bullet inside Victor’s greenhouse?
As she turned it over in her hand…
Another flash struck.
A gun.
A scream.
Someone shouting her name.
Then darkness.
The casing slipped from her fingers.
Someone had buried more than plants in this place.
Someone had buried the truth.
Jane stood outside Victor’s study.
The heavy wooden door was already open.
He had been expecting her.
As always.
Victor didn’t look up from the documents spread across his desk.
“You’re three minutes late.”
Jane frowned.
“I came as soon as—”
“I know.”
His voice was calm.
“You stopped outside the greenhouse for forty-seven seconds.”
“You looked at the roses.”
“You almost cried.”
Jane felt her breathing stop.
How…
Victor closed the folder.
“You’ve always liked the white ones.”
Silence.
He slowly stood.
“I told you to invite Hawk.”
“You did.”
“You walked with him for thirty-eight minutes.”
“You held his hand for twelve seconds.”
“You rested your forehead against his.”
Jane’s face lost all color.
Victor smiled faintly.
“I even know which one of you reached first.”
“You’ve been watching me.”
Victor took another step.
“I’ve never stopped.”
Jane instinctively stepped backward.
Her back met the wall.
There was nowhere left to go.
Victor gently lifted her chin.
“You were trembling.”
“But not because of him.”
“You were calm with Hawk.”
His thumb brushed against her cheek.
“But you’re afraid of me.”
Jane couldn’t answer.
She was.
She always had been.
Victor’s expression hardened.
“Do you know what hurts the most?”
His voice remained soft.
“I can predict presidents.”
“I can predict markets.”
“I can predict wars.”
He leaned closer.
“But today…”
“For the first time…”
“I couldn’t predict your heart.”
Jane whispered,
“I didn’t mean—”
“I know exactly what you meant.”
Victor interrupted.
“You smiled.”
“A real smile.”
“The first one in seven years.”
“I reviewed every recording before you came here.”
Jane stared at him.
Every recording…
He had watched everything.
Again.
Victor turned away.
“I bought you because I believed no one would ever hurt you again.”
Jane’s eyes filled with tears.
“You bought me.”
“You never asked if I wanted to be saved.”
The room fell silent.
For several seconds…
Victor didn’t move.
Then—
His fist slammed into the bookshelf.
The solid wood cracked with a deafening bang.
Books crashed onto the floor.
Jane gasped and stumbled backward, instinctively shielding her head.
Victor froze.
She wasn’t protecting herself from the flying books.
She was protecting herself…
From him.
That realization hurt more than his bleeding hand.
Without turning around, Victor spoke.
“I know Hawk has stopped seeing you as a target.”
“I know you’re beginning to trust him.”
“I know he’s started questioning whether you killed his brother willingly.”
Jane’s heart stopped.
His…
Brother?
She looked at Victor in shock.
Victor realized what he’d said.
A tiny mistake.
The first Jane had ever witnessed.
He recovered instantly.
“Forget what you heard.”
But it was too late.
For the first time…
Jane had discovered that Hawk had never entered the mansion because of her.
He had come…
To avenge someone.