I felt my hands slip and the world went dark — but what the police found on Eleanor's phone explained everything.

The next three days were torture.

We stayed in the safe house. The guards outside were doubled. We didn't go outside. We barely slept.

Every creak of the house made me jump. Every car that passed was Eleanor coming for us.

The police had frozen all of Eleanor's known accounts. But James said she had millions more in untraceable offshore accounts. She could stay hidden for years if she wanted.

And she wouldn't stay hidden forever. She'd make her move. I knew it. She was too proud, too angry, to just disappear. She wanted us dead. And she wouldn't stop until she succeeded.

On the fourth night, it happened.

I was asleep on the couch. I'd finally drifted off around two in the morning, exhausted from the constant tension.

I woke up to the sound of glass breaking.

Instantly, I was awake. My heart hammering.

Ethan was already on his feet, his hand over my mouth to keep me quiet. He pointed toward the bedroom where Mother and James were sleeping.

I nodded.

We moved silently toward the kitchen, where the sound had come from. Through the doorway, I saw a shadow moving. Two shadows.

The front door was still locked. The guards... they were supposed to be outside.

Ethan picked up a heavy cast-iron skillet from the stove. He motioned for me to stay back.

He stepped into the kitchen.

I heard a grunt. A struggle. Something heavy fell.

I ran in.

One man was on the floor, unconscious. Ethan was grappling with another. The man had a knife. It glinted in the moonlight coming through the broken window.

"Ethan!" I screamed.

The distraction was enough. Ethan drove his elbow into the man's throat. The man gasped, dropping the knife. Ethan hit him again, and he went down.

But there was no time to breathe.

From the hallway, I heard Mother scream.

We ran.

The bedroom door was open.

Eleanor was there.

She had a gun pointed at Mother. James was on the floor, blood on his forehead—he'd tried to stop her and failed.

"Eleanor," I said, my voice steady despite the terror flooding my body. "It's over. The police are here. They'll be here any second."

Eleanor laughed. The gun didn't waver.

"No," she said. "Your police friends are a little busy. The two men outside? They won't be waking up for a while. And backup is at least fifteen minutes away. More than enough time."

"Time for what?" Ethan asked. He was slowly moving to the side, trying to get between Eleanor and Mother.

"Time to finish what I started," Eleanor said. Her eyes were bright, feverish. "You think you can take everything from me? My money? My home? My future? I built this life. I worked for it. And you... you just come back, like the prodigal daughter, and it's all handed to you. You don't deserve any of it!"

"I never wanted any of it!" I shouted. "I just wanted my family back! I just wanted the truth!"

"The truth?" Eleanor sneered. "The truth is that your family was weak. Your father was a fool. Your mother is a sentimental old woman. Your brother is a spineless worm. And you... you're just a little girl who never learned her place."

She turned the gun toward me.

"But I'm going to fix that," she said. "I'm going to kill all of you. And then I'm going to disappear. And when the bodies are found, it will look like a robbery gone wrong. Or maybe a murder-suicide. The grieving daughter, killing her family and then herself. It's perfect."

"Eleanor, please," Mother said, her voice trembling. "Think about what you're doing. There's still time to—"

"Shut up!" Eleanor screamed. The gun shook in her hand. "You're the worst of all! You knew! You knew what I did and you still tried to give everything to her! I was the daughter you always wanted! I was perfect! And you still chose her!"

She was unraveling. Her finger was tightening on the trigger.

I had to do something. Anything.

I stepped forward.

"You're right," I said.

Everyone froze.

"You're right," I repeated. "I didn't deserve it. I was gone for three years. I didn't work for it. I didn't earn it. And you know what? I don't want it."

Eleanor blinked. "What?"

"I don't want the money," I said. "I don't want the house. I don't want the company. You can have it. All of it. Just put the gun down. Let us walk out of here. And you can have everything you ever wanted."

The room was silent.

Eleanor studied my face, searching for the lie.

"You'd give it all up?" she asked. Her voice was smaller now. Less certain.

"Every penny," I said. "It's just money. It's not worth dying for. It's not worth killing for."

For a moment, I thought it would work. Her hand was lowering. The gun was pointing at the floor.

And then she smiled. That cold, terrible smile.

"You think I'm stupid?" she said. "As soon as I put the gun down, you'll call the police. You'll send me to prison for the rest of my life. No. This is the only way. This ends tonight."

She raised the gun again.

And then the lights went out.