Chapter 30 - THE WHISPER AT MIDNIGHT
The countdown melted into a chorus of cheers, hugs, and the clinking of glasses as the new year officially dawned outside our windows. Fireworks cracked and bloomed in the freezing midnight sky, painting flashes of vibrant color across the living room ceiling through the large front windows.
Amidst the celebratory chaos, as Ben and Ella were busy cutting slices of the celebration cake and Grandma Helen was laughing with our neighbors by the fireplace, my phone buzzed sharply in my coat pocket hanging by the front door.
Assuming it was just a routine New Year's text from a college friend, I walked over to the coat rack, pulled the phone out of my pocket, and glanced down at the screen.
It wasn't a text message. It was an incoming call from an unknown, restricted number.
Frowning slightly, I swiped the screen to answer and brought the phone up to my ear. "Hello?" I asked over the distant sound of celebratory laughter and music playing in the background.
For a few seconds, there was only static and the hollow sound of wind howling through an empty street. I was about to hang up when a cold, familiar voice whispered through the receiver—a voice that sent an instant chill straight down my spine, freezing the warmth of the celebration right out of my veins.
"Enjoy your little party while you can," the voice hissed softly, dripping with venomous malice. "The federal freeze only covers local assets, darling. And Clara and I left one last surprise buried deep off-shore that you haven't even found yet..."
May you like
Before I could draw breath to respond, the line clicked dead with a sharp, robotic tone.
I stood frozen by the front door, staring down at the glowing screen as the distant sounds of laughter echoed around me, completely unaware of the new storm gathering just beyond the horizon...
