Yet in Saint Aurelia, peace often walked with caution. One morning Jack received an envelope containing a photo of Ysella in a psychiatric facility. She sat on a bench beside a man in a navy suit. The angle revealed only his profile, but Jack recognized him. His estranged brother, Castor Halberg, whose ambition had once threatened to divide the family business.
A note lay underneath. “You handled Ysella. But she was only an overture. I am not after your heart. I am after your empire.”
Jack folded the note calmly. He now had a family worth defending. And he knew that shadows were only dangerous until someone carried a brighter light.
