“Why are you taking Jackson’s name?” the man sneered, his grip tightening around her throat.
“Is he going to come to save you?”
Mariam couldn’t speak because of his vice like grip.
His voice was distorted through the black mask covering his face.
“That motherf*cker tightened security around the north boundary wall recently. It was the only blind spot. Do you have any idea how hard it was to get inside this compound?”
The north boundary wall was where she had tried to escape not long ago.
Her thoughts felt fragmented, slipping through her grasp as oxygen faded.
Tears blurred her vision, spilling helplessly from the corners of her eyes.
Her lungs burned, each second dragging her closer to unconsciousness.
He wasn’t from the compound—so he couldn’t be one of Jackson’s men.
Then who was he and why was he trying to suffocate her to death?
“What… do you want…” Mariam forced the words out between ragged, broken breaths.
“Do you want money?”
“Money?” the man repeated as if she had said something absurd.
“You Doyles really don’t understand, do you? You shouldn’t have offended someone far more powerful than you!”
Mariam’s body tensed.
She would hear her heart galloping in her ears.
She couldn’t make sense of it.
The Doyles’ only known public enemy was the Walsh family.
Was this another one of Jackson’s tricks to boggle her mind?
What kind of game was he playing?
She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to stay conscious.
Her hands clawed weakly at his wrist, but he didn’t budge.
“If it’s something you want…” she gasped, desperation creeping into her tone.
She just wanted to live.
“I can give it to you… just don’t—”
“I don’t want anything from you. I only want your life…And I’ll make sure it’s quiet.”
That was when Mariam caught a faint silver glint in the dim light.
The man was holding a knife, poised to strike at any moment.
Panic surged through her, but she forced herself to think clearly as she lacked the strength to overpower him.
At the last possible second, Mariam thrust her fingers forward and poking him directly in the eyes.
“Ah—!”
The man recoiled instantly, grip loosening from her throat as he stumbled backward.
The knife also slipped from his hand.
Air rushed back into her lungs in violent gasps.
Mariam coughed harshly, rolling to the side, clutching her throat as she tried to regain control of her breathing.
Her vision swam, but she forced herself to move, dragging her body across the bed.
The man pressed a hand over his stinging eyes and was shaking in agony.
She climbed down from the bed and strode across the room trying to find a place to hide.
But practically there was no such place in the room where she could possibly hide.
And the door was locked from outside.
She could only be saved if someone opened the door from outside.
The man recovered quickly and his footsteps were heavy on the wooden floor as he advanced again.
He cursed under his breath because he had lost the knife.
He reached inside his coat.
A metallic click followed.
When his hand came back into view, there was a gun.
Mariam’s blood turned cold.
A look of pure terror washed over her face.
“I really wanted to keep this quiet,” he muttered, almost conversationally.
“NO!” Mariam shrieked.
She pleaded with her life.
“Please…no…”
Her green eyes were wide, glassy, and unblinking.
Her body trembled violently as she tried to push herself backward but her back had hit the wall.
There was nowhere to go.
She had never killed anyone, never harmed anyone and never done anything wrong in her life.
In fact, she would even thank the automatic doors in shopping malls for opening for her.
She had never truly understood what it meant to be seconds away from death—until now.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” she choked out.
“I didn’t…please…spare me…”
The man lifted the gun higher.
“Too late.”
His finger curled around the trigger.
Time seemed to slow.
Mariam’s breath hitched.
Her entire body went rigid as the world narrowed to the black circle of the gun pointed at her.
“No… no… no…” she whispered again and again.
Her mind went strangely blank.
There was no escape this time.
Her lips parted for one final breath—
And then—
The bedroom door swung open.