DARK OBSESSION

The first time Amara Hayes feared the five men who had raised her like family, one of them was standing outside her bedroom with blood on his shirt. It was 2:13 a.m. Rain battered the mansion windows, thunder shook the glass, and somewhere downstairs, an alarm screamed through the silence. Amara stood frozen beside her bed, clutching her phone. Three minutes earlier, someone had sent her a message from an unknown number. Ask Daniel what really happened to your father. She had barely finished reading it when the lights went out. Now someone was knocking on her door. Three slow knocks. Then a familiar voice. “Amara. Open the door.” Her heart lurched. Adrian. Of all the men in the house, Adrian Cole was the one she trusted most. He had been her father's favorite, the quiet one who always remembered her birthday and sat beside her whenever nightmares kept her awake. But tonight, something about his voice frightened her. “Adrian?” she called. “What's happening?” “Open the door, sweetheart.” She reached for the handle. Then she noticed the blood beneath the door. A thin, dark line crept across the polished floor. Amara stumbled backward. “Adrian, you're bleeding.” Silence. Then he spoke again. “Please open the door before Daniel finds out you're awake.” Her fingers tightened around her phone. “Why?” A sharp sound came from the hallway. Someone had arrived behind him. “Move away from her door,” Daniel ordered. Amara recognized her brother's voice immediately. Adrian didn't move. “Not until she hears the truth.” “What truth?” Amara whispered. Neither man answered. Then another voice came from the darkness. Cold. Calm. Terrifyingly familiar. “Because one of us has been lying to her for seven years.” Amara stopped breathing. It was Marcus Black. The wealthiest of the five men. The one who had never once raised his voice at her. The one who had stood beside her father at the funeral and promised that she would never have to face the world alone. The door handle turned. “Amara,” Marcus said softly, “whatever happens next, don't believe everything your brother tells you.” Daniel slammed his fist against the door. “Get away from her!” A gunshot exploded through the hallway. Amara screamed. And when the emergency lights flickered on, she saw something through the narrow opening beneath her door. A man's hand. A silver ring. And a symbol she had seen only once before. On her father's coffin. To be continued…