Victoria's POV
The mansion gates were open.
No guards. No challenge. No noise.
Just silence.
I stepped past the threshold, heels clicking against the driveway tile. The air smelled wrong. Like iron. Like burnt powder.
I kept walking.
That's when I saw the first body.
A guard. His head—
"God !".
The skull was split open like a crushed fruit. What was left was unrecognizable. Brain, blood, bone—painted against the ground.
My stomach lurched.
I backed away—but only for a moment. I couldn't stop now. I had to know.
I broke into a run.
My heels snapped across the stone path, nearly slipping on blood-slick steps. I turned the corner—
Two more.
Both with bullet holes right between the eyes. Dead.
My breath caught.
My thoughts spiraled.
Did Elliot do this?
He was capable of murder, yes. I'd known that
Was this how far he'd gone? Did Franz try to stop him?
What if Franz got caught up in this?
What if he was dead? Killed for helping me?
No.
No no no—
