By seven the next morning, Marcus was already awake.He stood in front of the kitchen window with a cup of coffee in his hand, watching the city slowly come alive. Cars filled the roads, people hurried toward offices, and delivery trucks moved between buildings as another ordinary day began.For Marcus, it was anything but ordinary.On the dining table sat three things: his laptop, a folder containing Sterling Retail Group's financial records, and the envelope from the previous night.He had barely slept.Not because of the attack.Because of the stranger Damien had met.The man who made sure Marcus survived the storm.Marcus couldn't get the sentence out of his head.Someone had known.Someone had watched.And somehow, that person had known what would happen to him before Marcus himself did."You're up early."Marcus turned.Evelyn stood in the doorway wearing a loose cream sweater and jeans. Her hair was tied carelessly behind her head, and she looked nothing like the polished finan

Marcus read the message for the third time.Your father didn't cause the storm. You did.The laughter in the living room continued around him, but it no longer reached his ears. Lily was arguing with Margaret about whether salt belonged in coffee, while Richard sat on the couch pretending to be an innocent victim of the argument. A few seconds earlier, Marcus had been laughing with them.Now his hand had gone cold around his phone. Evelyn noticed first."What is it?"Marcus slipped the phone into his pocket. "Nothing."She gave him a look. "Marcus."He sighed. "Why does everyone suddenly know when I'm lying?""Because you're terrible at it when something actually bothers you."Richard looked over. "What's going on?"Marcus hesitated.The message had said to come alone.Normally, that would have been enough to make Richard insist on coming with him. After the attack at the hotel, Marcus knew Evelyn would probably follow him even if he told her not to.But something about the message fe