Chapter 2 - Silent Encounters
The streetlights flickered against the damp, narrow pavement.
Marcus kept his head low, feeling the heavy hum of the black SUV following his every step.
He slipped through the back entrance of his apartment building to avoid the front security cameras.
The wooden staircase creaked under his weight as he climbed to the third floor.
He unlocked his apartment door with a trembling hand and stepped inside the dim, quiet hallway.
Sitting on the edge of the worn velvet sofa was his wife, Sarah.
Her eyes were red and swollen, framing a face pale with shock and betrayal.
On the television screen behind her, the evening news played on a continuous loop.
The headline read: Disgraced Guard Attacks Senior Executive at Vance Security Headquarters.
The footage showed Marcus screaming and tackling Eleanor to the polished floor over and over again.
Sarah stood up slowly, her body trembling with a mixture of fear and rage.
"Is it true, Marcus?" she asked, her voice cracking under the silence of the room.
"Did you really put your hands on my mother?" she demanded.
Marcus stood frozen near the entryway, unable to cross the floor toward her.
"Sarah, you have to listen to me," he whispered softly.
"What I saw on the news isn't the whole story," he added, taking a cautious step forward.
"Stay back from me!" Sarah shouted, retreating toward the kitchen counter.
"They stripped your badge, Marcus!" she screamed.
"They dragged you out like a wild animal!" she added, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"My mother called me ten minutes ago," she said, wiping her eyes frantically.
"She told me you lost your sanity," Sarah sobbed.
"She told me you were a danger to everyone around you," she said, her voice filled with heartbreak.
Marcus closed his eyes as the weight of the lie crushed his chest.
He wanted to hold her and tell her about the encrypted text message in his pocket.
He wanted to explain that her mother was the one who engineered the entire scene.
But he remembered the warning message on his phone.
Ensure your wife never finds out what is inside Vault 7.
If he told Sarah the truth right now, he would put a target directly on her back.
"I can't explain everything right now, Sarah," Marcus said, his voice choking with emotion.
"You just have to trust that I am doing this to keep you safe," he pleaded.
Sarah shook her head in disbelief and picked up her coat from the chair.
"I don't even know who you are anymore," she said coldly.
"I am going to stay at a hotel tonight," she added, pushing past him toward the door.
"Don't follow me, Marcus," she warned before stepping out into the hallway.
The heavy wooden door slammed shut, leaving Marcus alone in the cold silence.
He stood in the dark room, feeling completely isolated from the world.
His phone buzzed in his pocket once again.
May you like
"She is safe for now," the text message read.
"Now open the drive before they track your location."
