The metallic hum of the recording equipment filled the space as I stood frozen, the headset still pressed against my ear. My heart hammered in my chest, the words reverberating in my mind.
The recording was unmistakable, clear as day. My uncle's voice crackled through the static, cold and calculating. "Julian must be eliminated. If he gets in the way, I'll handle him myself. Don't let him near Skylar."
My breath caught in my throat, my eyes wide with incredulity. The room spun around me, and for a moment, I couldn't breathe. The man I had trusted, the one who had stood by my side through everything, had been marked for elimination by the very person I had feared for so long.
It felt as though the rug had been pulled out from under me. My knees buckled, and I stumbled back, slamming into the nearest wall. I felt like I was suffocating, my mind racing as it tried to process what I had just heard.
