The bone was visibly crooked beneath my gray sweater, and the skin was already turning a dark, bruised purple.

My right hand hung uselessly, the fingers twitching against my thigh.

“That was your warning,” Mark said, his voice flat.

He picked up a black ballpoint pen from the desk and pressed it into my left hand.

“Sign it with your left. I know you can write with both.”

I looked down at the paper, tears blurring my vision.

The pain was a physical wall, making it hard to breathe.

On the desk, my tablet screen glowed under the paper folder.

It was logged into the estate’s secure portal, managed by Ana’s firm in Sacramento.

I had set up the dual-verification protocol three days ago.

If I signed the digital document with my secondary, emergency PIN, it would not transfer the land.

Instead, it would trigger a silent alert to Ana and release the encrypted forensic files detailing Mark’s embezzlement.

I just needed to reach the screen without him noticing the specific app I was using.

“Sign it,” Mark whispered, leaning over me.

The smell of stale coffee and whiskey on his breath made me sick.

He gripped my left shoulder, his fingers digging into my collarbone.

“If you don’t, the next swing goes to your knee.”

I swallowed the copper taste of fear.

I reached out my left hand, dragging the tablet from beneath the paper folder.

The screen lit up, asking for the authorization signature.

My hand trembled as I touched the stylus to the glass.

I began to draw the letters of my name, my mind focusing on the alternate code.

One wrong stroke and the properties would be his forever.

I forced my left hand to stabilize, dragging the digital ink across the screen.

I entered the emergency sequence instead of my standard PIN.

The screen flickered.