I came home early and found my housekeeper shaving my dying mother's hair, but the secret my mother revealed next destroyed my world.

By midnight, the funeral guests had departed. The grand mansion was plunged into silence, illuminated only by the faint security lights strategically placed along the perimeter walls.

Clara and I sat in my ground-floor office.

"You should go upstairs to your room, Clara," I said, checking the magazine of a heavy custom 9mm handgun before sliding it into my shoulder holster. "Dominic has three guards stationed outside your door."

Clara sat in the leather armchair, staring at me with quiet defiance. She held a small, antique silver dagger that had belonged to my father—a decorative piece she had taken from the mantelpiece.

"I am not hiding in my bedroom while men come to attack this house, Bennett," she said firmly. "I spent my whole life being helpless. I'm done hiding."

I looked at her, seeing the fierce, unyielding pride of the Hale bloodline shining brightly in her hazel eyes. A quiet sense of pride bloomed in my chest.

"Fine," I said. "Stay behind my desk. Do not step out into the hallway unless I tell you to."

At 12:45 AM, the security monitors on my desk went dark.

"Power cut at the main transformer," Dominic reported over my earpiece. "Perimeter fence breached at the south gate. We have at least eight armed men moving through the gardens."

"Engage at will, Dominic," I ordered coldly. "Leave Victor Moretti alive if possible. I want to speak to him myself."

The quiet night was shattered by the sharp, echoing cracks of suppressed gunfire outside the estate windows. Glass shattered in the conservatory as my security team engaged Moretti's hit squad in the gardens.

I stood near the office door, weapon drawn, listening to the tactical movements in the hallway.

Moretti was desperate. With Eleanor dead and Clara legally acknowledged, his window to seize control of the city’s trade networks was closing fast. He was making a violent, final gamble—attempting to eliminate both Bennett and Clara Hale in a single night to force the empire into total collapse.

A heavy footfall sounded directly outside the office door.

The brass handle turned slowly.

I didn't wait. I raised my weapon and fired three rounds straight through the heavy oak paneling.

A choked scream sounded from the hallway, followed by the heavy thud of a body hitting the floor.