The front doors of the mansion had just been thrown open.

The sound of heavy footsteps echoed on the marble foyer floor.

I felt my phone vibrate violently in my pocket.

I pulled it out, the screen glowing bright in the dim room.

It was a text from an unknown number.

I looked at the message on the screen.

I stared at the glowing screen.

The text was from a number I did not recognize.

“We are in the house,” the message read. “Do not let Miranda destroy the ledger.”

I looked up at my grandfather, Elias.

He was watching me, his eyes wide in the green glow of the emergency lights.

The footsteps in the hallway grew louder.

They were deliberate, heavy boots clicking against the marble floor of the foyer.

Julian stepped in front of me, his hand instinctively reaching out to shield my shoulder.

“Who is out there?” Julian called out.

His voice echoed through the high-ceilinged library.

No one answered, but the footsteps did not stop.

Miranda backed away from the desk, her face pale.