CHAPTER 1 — The Woman Who Refused to Die

Nathan waited exactly twelve minutes before leaving HarborLock.

He never looked back.

Inside Unit Seven, the temperature continued to fall.

Minus five.

Minus six.

The silence became almost unbearable.

Evelyn counted every breath.

Thirty.

Forty.

Fifty.

Then she looked toward the ventilation shaft Donovan's engineers had secretly modified.

Hidden beneath a sheet of frost was a narrow steel panel.

She pulled a small magnetic key from inside her boot.

Click.

The panel released.

Cold air rushed through the opening.

She crawled into the narrow shaft without making a sound.

Twenty minutes later...

She emerged through a maintenance hatch outside the warehouse.

No alarms.

No witnesses.

Exactly as planned.

Across the parking lot, a black SUV waited with its headlights off.

Donovan stepped out.

"You made it."

Evelyn nodded.

"They're still recording?"

Donovan smiled.

"Every word."

He handed her a tablet.

Nathan's Mercedes had already begun transmitting audio.

His voice filled the speakers.

"It's done."

Miriam laughed.

"My son... you're finally free."

"And Lila?"

Nathan asked.

"I'm meeting her tomorrow."

"I'm done pretending to love Evelyn."

Lila's voice entered the conversation over speakerphone.

"Did anyone see you?"

"No."

"What about the body?"

Nathan chuckled.

"There won't be much left by morning."

Evelyn quietly locked the screen.

"No jury will ever forget those words."

Donovan looked at her carefully.

"What now?"

She stared back at HarborLock.

"We let them celebrate."