Glass exploded across the shop.
The jeweler grabbed the terrified young woman and dragged her behind the counter as gunshots ripped through the darkness.
“Who are they?!” he shouted.
She was crying now.
“You were never supposed to find me!”
Another bullet smashed the display cases.
Diamonds scattered everywhere.
The masked men stormed inside.
Then—
The jeweler saw the tattoo on one attacker’s neck.
A black serpent.
And suddenly he remembered.
Eighteen years ago.
The night Clara disappeared.
The same tattoo.
His blood turned cold.
“You…” he whispered.
The young woman stared at him.
“You know them?”
The jeweler looked sick.
“I used to work for them.”
Silence.
Thunder roared outside.
“They trafficked stolen jewelry… money… children…” he admitted quietly.
“I tried to leave.”
The woman’s eyes widened in horror.
“What did they do to my mother?”
Before he could answer—
A deep voice echoed from the entrance.
“Family reunion’s over.”
A tall man stepped from the shadows holding a shotgun.
The serpent tattoo covered his throat.
And beside him—
A woman walked forward slowly.
Elegant black coat.
Cold eyes.
The young woman froze.
“Mom…?”
The jeweler’s face lost all color.
Because he recognized her too.
The woman smiled faintly.
Then said the one sentence that destroyed everything:
“You should’ve let Clara die eighteen years ago.”
