Chapter 201

“What is going on?” Stone asked sharply as he turned to his men. His voice was calm, but the tension in his eyes said otherwise.

One of the guards stepped forward immediately. Sir, during the search, we found a phone on each of these women. The phones are now in our custody. But when we searched their rooms,” he paused and pointed at the two boxes in the hands of the women, “we found these boxes hidden in their bedrooms. You need to see what is inside them yourself.”

Stone raised one brow slowly. His instincts were already screaming.

“Open them,” he ordered.

The two women understood immediately. With shaking hands, they stepped forward and dropped the boxes on the floor in front of Stone. As they bent slightly to open them, something strange happened.

They locked eyes.

It was quick. Too quick.

Before anyone could react, both women moved at the same time. Their hands flew to their mouths. They pushed something inside instantly.

“Stop-!” one of the guards shouted.But it was too late.

The women swallowed whatever it was in their mouths.

Within seconds, their bodies stiffened. Their eyes widened in shock and pain. Foam formed at the corners of their lips.

Then they collapsed.

Both women hit the floor heavily, lifeless.

The room froze.

Shock filled the air like thick smoke, suffocating everyone.

No one spoke, and no one moved. Everything had happened too fast.

Stone stood up instantly.

“Call emergency services now,” he barked as he pulled out his phone. His voice was firm, controlled, but his eyes burned with anger. “We have a situation at Gabriel and Isla’s residence. I’ll forward the address immediately. It’s urgent.”

He ended the call and dialed another number without wasting time.

“Sir,” he said as soon as the call connected, “we have a serious situation at your son’s house. I think you should come here immediately.”

He hung up and turned back to his men.

“What is inside those boxes?” Stone asked slowly. “Tell meyou didn’t touch anything.”

“Yes, sir,” one of the men replied quickly. “We wore gloves.

We didn’t touch anything directly. But the women had other mobile phones hidden inside the boxes. Different from the ones we collected earlier. They also had a gun in each box… and photos of Mrs Wyndham.”

Stone closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath.

– When he opened them again, there was a slight relief in his expression. It was cold, but relief was present.

They still did not have the full picture, but they were getting closer.

Very close.

“How could housemaids have guns?” Stone muttered under his breath. “And photos of Mrs Wyndham?”

Nothing about this was random.

“Sir,” another guard asked carefully, “what should we do with the bodies?”

Stone’s attention snapped back to him.

“Don’t touch them,” he replied immediately. “No one touches anything.”

“Yes, sir.”

Stone dialed another number quickly.”Make sure the person you have in custody doesn’t have anything on him,” he instructed firmly. “Not a single thing.

Strip search if you must.”

“Yes, boss.”

He ended the call.

Everything was turning into chaos-but not completely.

Instead of feeling overwhelmed, Stone felt something else now.

Energy.

The tiredness that had weighed him down earlier was gone. His mind was sharp again, it was alert. This was what he was trained for.

Sirens suddenly echoed outside the mansion, pulling Stone out of his thoughts.

“Go and welcome the authorities,” he instructed his men.

Moments later, four police officers walked into the room.

The moment they saw the bodies on the floor, their expressions changed.

“What happened here?” a tall officer with brown hair and green eyes asked.

Stone nodded once. “Hello, Mathew. These women were caught with guns and pictures of my boss’s wife. Before we could question them, they swallowed something anddied instantly.”

Mathew’s eyes narrowed as he examined the scene. “Has anyone touched the bodies?”

“No,” Stone replied. “We secured the area immediately.”

“Good.”

Mathew signaled to his team. An ambulance was called.

Evidence bags were brought out. The boxes were carefully sealed.

Soon after, the ambulance arrived. The bodies were taken away under police supervision.

“We’ll need to check their phones,” Stone said firmly. “Call logs, messages-everything. It might lead us to whoever sent them.”

“I agree,” Mathew replied. “But we’ll also need these items as evidence.”

The front doors opened again.

All heads turned.

The guards returned, dragging the remaining workers into the room-including Magdalene.

Stone stood still, his eyes fixed on her.

“Any leads?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” one of the guards replied. “We found something.”Magdalene and another male worker-the gardener— were pushed forward.

“We found two pistols inside this woman’s bedroom,” the guard continued, pointing at Magdalene. “Along with photos of Mrs Wyndham and extra phones.”

The items were dropped on the table

Magdalene’s face went pale. Her lips trembled. Her eyes darted around the room.

“There’s more,” the guard added. “Her phone rang while wę were searching. The caller ID showed ‘Husband.’ We asked her to answer the call, but she refused. She said it wasn’t important.”

Stone’s jaw tightened.

“Then a message came in,” the guard continued. “From the same number. She still refused to open the phone.”

Stone stared at Magdalene.

He could not believe what he was seeing.

This was the woman Alfred trusted. The woman Gabriel saw as family. And the woman Isla loved and confided in.

Betrayal cut deeper when it came from those closest to you.

The guards explained everything carefully. After questioning everyone and reviewing what they found, itbecame clear.

Only four people were involved.

The two women who were now dead.

The gardener.

And Magdalene.

The rest of the workers were innocent.

Stone exhaled slowly.

The enemy was closer than they ever imagined.

And this time, there would be no escape for the enemy.