It was early morning.
Anna had just woken up, still in her nightgown, hair messy from sleep and eyes half-closed. The house was quiet, the kind of quiet you only get before the sun fully rises.
Alex, on the other hand, hadn't slept at all.
He didn't even try.
He'd spent the whole night hunched over Varkov's tablet, scrolling through every corner of it, mind racing, eyes burning.
Neither of them expected the kind of news that would show up at their door.
Normally, if the family house needed Anna for anything, a phone call would settle it. A simple, cold message. Not men in suits showing up like a police raid.
So when the man said those words—"Your grandfather has asked us to bring you to the family house"—Alex's mind snapped to one thought.
'They found out.'
His muscles tightened.
A cold rush slid down his spine.
His heartbeat jumped so hard it felt like it was trying to punch its way out of his chest.
Fear. Pure, sharp fear.
Then, in the middle of that rising panic, something washed over him—warm, gentle, steady.
His heartbeat slowed.His breathing leveled out. The fear… softened.
Alex turned his head slightly.
Anna stood behind him, one hand pressed softly between his shoulder blades. Her eyes were calm, almost glowing with focus.
'She's using it again?' Alex thought, a quick flash of worry hitting him.
But the moment didn't last.
Reality yanked him back fast.
The suits were still in the doorway.
'How did they find it? Did I slip up in my cover?' Alex thought, panic chewing at his chest.
The moment the man said "Your presence is required at the family house," Alex's brain jumped straight to the worst possibility—they had discovered he killed Eddie.
'But Saka was there… he helped me clean it up. We covered everything.'
His mind kept spinning.
Another thought hit him.
'Did Lucius identify me during the mission?'
His head felt stuffed with questions, all of them loud, all of them dangerous. He just stood there, frozen, unable to speak.
Anna stepped forward, placing herself between Alex and the men.
"And why are they calling him?" she demanded, her voice sharp.
"We're sorry, ma'am. We weren't told," the man replied, trying to keep his tone respectful.
"He isn't going anywhere with you people," Anna said firmly.
"Apologies, but we're instructed to bring him to the family house immediately," the man answered again, stiff as a wall.
"What?!" Anna snapped.
"What sort of nonsense is this?" she fired back, heat rising in her tone.
"Wait… Mum—"
"I don't want to hear it!" Anna shouted, turning on Alex before he could finish.
Alex opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off instantly, her anger and fear building like a storm right in front of him.
"I am calling my father this instant and having you all thrown off my property," Anna snapped.
She reached into the pocket of her nightgown and pulled out her phone, hands trembling. She tapped a number she clearly knew by heart.
It rang twice… then jumped straight to voicemail.
Anna stared at the screen, jaw tight.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we have a job to do," the man said again, tone flat, rehearsed.
"Can you at least let us change our clothes? It's not like we're being arrested… right?" Alex said.
His voice finally cut through the tension. He'd snapped out of his panic, forcing himself to breathe.
Inside, he tried to settle on one conclusion—there was no way the Wyndhams had found out what he did. Not that fast. Not after the clean-up.
Alex turned and headed upstairs.
He changed into black trousers and a brown top, quick and quiet.
He came back down to see the two men waiting by the door. They led him outside to a black SUV parked neatly at the mansion gate.
Anna had dressed up too, moving fast, and she followed right behind them, refusing to let Alex leave her sight.
Soon, the SUV pulled away from the house.
The drive was silent.
Alex kept looking out the window, mind still running.
'Then why call me? What's really going on?'
He didn't get an answer until they reached the Wyndham mansion.
And the moment he stepped out of the car, everything felt wrong.
The place didn't look like a family estate anymore.
Long moving vans were parked all over the compound, engines humming. Workers were rushing back and forth, loading furniture and crates into the trucks.
The whole mansion looked like it was being emptied out.
"What is going on here?" Anna asked.
"The family are relocating the family house," the man at the driver's side replied.
"Why would they do that...?" Anna sounded confused.
She no longer lived there, but it was still her family home.
Alex had a theory.
'Too many deaths happened right under their nose without a trace. Of course they'd want to move.'
The thought made his gut twist. If they were moving because of the killings, did that mean they'd found the killer? Had they found him?
He tried to force the worry down. A soft hand closed over his and steadied him.
"Don't worry. I won't let them harm you," Anna whispered.
The SUV pulled up to a side entrance. A woman in a red uniform—like a server's—stood waiting and guided them inside.
Alex and his mother followed her down a long hallway.
Alex recognised the corridor instantly. It led to the throne-like chamber under the mansion—the same place where the fight with Eddie had started.
Memories tightened his chest but he kept his steps even.
Clearly, they were being led to the throne room.
The hallway stretched on, quiet and heavy, until they finally reached the massive golden doors. They swung open on their own, slow and dramatic, letting out a soft echo that rolled through the chamber.
Inside, at the far end of the room, four figures waited.
John Wyndham sat on the throne, calm and unreadable.
To his right stood Jake Wyndham and Jim Wyndham, both silent, both watching.
And on the left—on a thin mattress laid on the floor—sat a one-armed man, cross-legged like he was meditating.
Lucius Vanderbilt.
The sight hit both Alex and Anna at the same time.
Anna froze. Even though she'd never spoken to Lucius directly, she'd seen him around the family countless times. Seeing him now—missing an entire arm—stole the breath straight out of her chest.
Alex's shock came from a different place.
'Is that really from Marrick's shot?'
He hadn't expected that. Not at all.
He remembered the fight at the Vornshade clan vividly—Lucius had been taken out of the battle by that single strike.
But Alex never once thought something like this would happen. A Stage Seven warrior, a monster of a man, taken down so brutally? He always assumed Lucius would walk away from that hit with barely a scratch.
But the missing arm said otherwise.
Alex's eyes locked on Lucius's missing arm.
He stared so hard he didn't even notice the cold stares drilling into him from the Triple Js.
Then—
Anna's voice cut through the hall like a slap.
"What kind of move did you pull on me, Dad!"
The shout snapped Alex back to reality.
Anna stormed forward, leaving her spot and marching straight toward the throne. Her boots echoed across the polished floor.
"Come on, daughter," John said with that calm old-man smile. "I only wanted to speak with my grandson."
"How…?" Anna blinked, thrown off for a heartbeat.
"Yeah, I get that. I'm not stopping you. But why drag him in like he's committed a crime?"
At those words, Alex swallowed hard.
He knew very well he had done something bad here… in this very room.
His stomach twisted.
"Fine… fine… fine," John sighed, lifting both hands like he'd been caught stealing bread. "Next time I'll make a proper arrangement."
He dusted off the matter with a quick wave.
"Now, can you give us some space? I want a private talk with my grandson."
Anna looked at Alex. He looked back… uneasy, shoulders tightening.
Then she glanced at her brothers—three sharpened knives disguised as men—staring holes through Alex.
"I think I'm fine," she said, folding her arms. "You can say whatever you want to say to my son right here."
"Please… my lovely daughter…" John started, tone dipping into that soft, rehearsed father-plea—
"She can stay," Lucius said.
His voice cut through the tension.
John froze for a second, eyes shifting toward Lucius like he wasn't expecting him to speak at all.
"Well then," John murmured, recovering. His attention moved and locked on Alex.
"Alex, you are a member of the Wyndham family," he said slowly, each word dropping with weight. "It is completely inappropriate for you to live in a separate house. Especially when this is the only family you have left."
Alex felt his stomach tighten.
He didn't say anything. He just stood there, waiting for the next blow.
"And that is why," John continued, straightening himself on the throne, "you will no longer stay in your house. You are to move into the family house with us. Immediately."
The hall went dead silent.
"What?!"
Both Alex and Anna shouted at the same time.