Chapter 3 - The Cold Iron Trap
I didn't go back into the main dining room immediately. Instead, I moved like a ghost through the shadows of the ground-floor service corridors, my soft-soled slippers making zero sound against the polished stone floors.
My primary objective was simple: secure the perimeter before Jax and Kael arrived.
Richard’s estate was a sprawling, modern fortress equipped with state-of-the-art electronic security systems, all controlled from a master panel in his private study. However, like most arrogant men, Richard relied entirely on automation and neglected the mechanical fail-safes.
I slipped into the dark, wood-paneled study. The room smelled of old paper, pipe tobacco, and Richard’s expensive cologne. The wall-mounted master control tablet glowed softly in the darkness, displaying the live feeds of every camera on the property.
On camera four, I watched Richard stand up at the dining table, laughing heartily as he raised his glass in a toast.
"To new beginnings," Richard announced to his seated family, his arm draped comfortably over Jessica’s bare shoulders. "And to getting rid of dead weight by the end of the year."
His mother, Eleanor, clapped her diamond-ringed hands together in delight. "Well said, Richard. That girl never fit our social circle anyway. A penniless nobody with no family name. I still don't understand why you married her in the first place, other than a momentary lapse in judgment."
"She was quiet, Mother," Richard shrugged, swirling his Pinot Noir. "And convenient for a time. But Jessica represents our future. High society, old money, and real pedigree."
Behind the glass doors of the patio, the temperature was dropping rapidly. A sudden, violent squall blew in from the lake, coating the exterior glass in thick, frosty patterns.
I walked over to the master control panel, entered Richard’s override code—which he had arrogantly left taped beneath the keyboard on a sticky note—and switched the smart-lock protocol from automatic to manual lockdown mode.
BEEP.
Across the entire mansion, the heavy steel-reinforced deadbolts slid into place with a series of loud, synchronized thuds. Every exterior door, window shutter, and fire escape hatch was now mechanically sealed from the outside.
On the monitors, I saw Richard’s brother, Thomas, frown and look toward the foyer. "Did anyone else hear that?"
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"Probably just the wind settling against the foundation," Richard dismissed dismissively, taking a bite of roasted turkey. "Eat up, everyone. We have dessert coming."
They had no idea that the foundation was about to crumble entirely.
