Chapter 1: Through the Inferno

The ceiling split apart.

A massive beam crashed onto the bedroom floor only inches behind Marisol as she shielded Elliot with her own body.

The impact shook the entire room.

The little boy buried his face against her shoulder, clutching the green dinosaur so tightly that his tiny knuckles turned white.

"I've got you," she whispered again.

"Just keep your eyes closed."

She crawled beneath the rolling smoke, searching for the hallway she had entered only moments before.

But the mansion had changed.

Walls that had stood seconds earlier now burned like torches.

The staircase groaned beneath the weight of the collapsing roof.

Somewhere outside, she could hear sirens growing louder.

Somewhere behind her...

Another explosion.

The force knocked her forward.

Her elbow slammed against the hardwood floor.

Pain shot through her arm, but she refused to let go of the child.

Elliot coughed violently.

Marisol ripped a strip from the wet tablecloth and covered his nose.

"Breathe through this."

"You'll be okay."

The hallway disappeared behind thick black smoke.

She could barely see more than a few feet ahead.

Then...

She remembered something.

When she had entered, she had passed a long window overlooking the rose garden.

If she could find that window...

She could find the stairs.

Feeling along the wall with one hand while carrying Elliot with the other, she slowly moved forward.

The heat grew unbearable.

Her shoes began sticking to the melting floor.

Finally...

A faint glow appeared through the smoke.

The window.

She turned left.

The staircase was already burning.

Half of it had collapsed.

There was only one narrow section still standing.

Marisol took one deep breath.

Then stepped onto it.

Each wooden step cracked beneath her weight.

One.

Two.

Three.

The fourth step snapped completely.

She jumped.

Holding Elliot tightly against her chest, she landed on the marble floor just as the staircase collapsed behind them.

Outside, firefighters burst through the front entrance.

One firefighter spotted her silhouette through the smoke.

"We've got them!"

Within seconds, several firefighters rushed forward.

Strong arms lifted Elliot from her embrace.

Another wrapped Marisol in a fire blanket as she stumbled into the cool night air.

The moment Preston Blackwood saw his son alive...

He ran.

Ignoring the firefighters, the billionaire dropped to his knees beside Elliot.

"My boy..."

Elliot opened his watery eyes.

"Daddy..."

The father broke into tears.

For the first time in decades...

The richest man in Connecticut looked like the smallest man in the world.

He turned toward Marisol.

She was coughing uncontrollably, soot covering every inch of her face.

Their eyes met.

Neither of them spoke.

Words weren't enough.