Chapter 1: The Ambulance That Arrived Too Late
The silence inside the mansion shattered as Daniel's command echoed through every hallway.
"Call an ambulance! Now!"
No one moved.
Not the guests.
Not the servants.
Not even his own mother.
Daniel didn't wait.
He ripped off his travel jacket, climbed halfway into the coffin, and tilted Elena's head back with practiced precision. Two fingers rested against her neck.
There.
A pulse.
Weak.
Slow.
But real.
Military instinct replaced emotion. He unbuttoned the top of her burial gown just enough to free her airway, then checked her pupils.
"They drugged her," he muttered.
Marcus forced a nervous laugh.
"You're losing your mind."
Daniel looked up with icy calm.
"I've pronounced soldiers dead on battlefields."
He pressed two fingers against Elena's wrist again.
"And I've brought men back from worse."
Her breathing grew shallower.
Without hesitation, Daniel pulled a small emergency airway kit from his duffel bag—a habit he had never abandoned after leaving military service.
The funeral guests watched in stunned silence as he inserted an oxygen tube and began supporting her breathing.
Suddenly—
Elena coughed.
A faint gasp escaped her lips.
The entire room froze.
One elderly guest whispered,
"My God..."
"She was alive the whole time."
Panic flashed across Margaret's face for the first time.
Marcus slowly stepped backward toward the study door.
Daniel noticed immediately.
"Don't."
Marcus stopped.
"You take one more step," Daniel said quietly, "and I'll assume you're running."
The distant sound of sirens finally echoed outside the estate.
May you like
Daniel never looked away from his brother.
"You'd better pray she survives."
