Scarlett’s POV
The silence after the shot was louder than the gun itself.
I didn’t move.
Neither did Jasper.
He was still holding the envelope, the photos now forgotten on the desk. The flicker of terror in his eyes wasn’t for me anymore, it was for something outside.
Something real.
“Don’t move,” he said, voice low.
As if I was planning to.
I stared out the window again. The figure was gone. Just like that. As if they were never there.
But I knew what I saw.
Someone had come to the house.
Someone had watched.
Listened.
And left a warning.
“What the hell is happening?” I whispered.
Jasper was already moving, pushing a button under his desk. Somewhere in the house, a steel shutter groaned as it slid down over the main entrances.
“Panic lockdown,” he said shortly. “The staff
