Chapter 4 — The First Escape Attempt

Marini

The night was an oppressive weight, the kind that made every sound sharper, every shadow deeper. Marini’s borrowed sweater clung to her skin, the air inside the room still and heavy, as though the estate itself were waiting. For hours, she had cataloged the rhythm of footsteps outside her door, the faint hum of the security system, the flicker of light under the crack of the door. A watcher. A predator. Every nerve in her body pulsed with a singular purpose: escape.