Potter's Town nestled in the misty waterways of the south.
The air carried the crisp fragrance of bamboo leaves.
The secluded back mountain echoed only with birdsong.
Sophia Sullivan and Ethan Sullivan were both people of few words.
Yet their silence together felt comfortable.
They worked in perfect sync, gathering sun-dried bamboo shoots into baskets.
Ethan sat in his wheelchair, accepting the basket Sophia handed him.
The setting sun cast a golden glow over them.
"Time to head back." Sophia brushed dust from her hands.
Her fingers had just touched the wheelchair handles.
Then she froze.
The faint metallic tang of blood hung in the air.
Sophia's pupils contracted.
She shoved the wheelchair forward with sudden force.
Ethan rolled safely behind a tree.
Simultaneously.
A shadow detached itself from the bamboo grove.
A black-clad man raised a silenced pistol.
The barrel aimed directly between Ethan's brows.
"Mr. Sullivan, don't blame me for sending you to hell."
The assassin's voice dripped ice.
As the trigger squeezed.
Sophia moved like a panther.
Her side kick connected with the gunman's wrist.
The weapon clattered to the ground.
"Go!" Sophia barked.
Her instincts screamed.
This was no ordinary hitman.
Ethan's presence would only distract her.
The man in the wheelchair gripped the armrests.
His knuckles turned white.
Never had he hated his disguise more.
Sophia engaged the assassin in a deadly dance.
Blades flashed between them.
Then steel gleamed from the killer's boot.
A dagger sliced toward Sophia's throat.
She raised bare hands to block.
Ethan surged to his feet.
His iron grip caught the assassin's wrist.
"Your legs—?" Sophia's composure cracked.
Ethan stood tall as an oak.
A full head taller than the killer.
"Focus on him first."
His voice held lethal promise.
The assassin's eyes widened.
The intel had been catastrophically wrong.
The disability was fake.
And this woman was unexpectedly skilled.
Failure meant death.
He twisted free, blade arcing toward both targets.
Rain began falling as three figures clashed.
"Who sent you?" Ethan deflected a killing strike.
The assassin sneered. "Kill me and find out!"
Dark thoughts churned in Ethan's mind.
Only a handful of enemies knew his whereabouts.
The illegitimate sons watching like vultures.
Zachary Sullivan topped the list.
The cruise ship drugging hadn't been settled.
Now this brazen attack.
After tonight.
Every mole would be rooted out.
Sophia kneed the assassin's stomach.
Her judo throw slammed him down.
Steel flashed.
A sickening crack.
The killer's right arm dangled by threads.
With gritted teeth, he severed the limb himself.
Blood mingled with rain.
Sophia and Ethan fought as one.
She controlled the high line.
He dominated the low.
Their movements flowed like water.
A strange familiarity washed over Sophia.
Ethan's soaked white shirt clung to defined abs.
His fighting style...
The subtle tells...
They overlapped with a memory.
The fog of that cruise ship night lifted.