CHAPTER 1: The Trap Tightens
The cold didn’t scare me.
That was the first thing I noticed as minutes stretched into something shapeless and slow. The human body was supposed to panic in conditions like this—muscles locking, breath shortening, instincts screaming to survive.
But my mind was quiet.
Because this… this was no longer about survival.
This was about timing.
I counted Nathan’s footsteps until they disappeared completely. Then I waited—ten minutes, just as Donovan instructed. Enough time for Nathan to leave the premises, confident in his victory.
Only then did I move.
My fingers, already stiff, slid along the metal wall until I found it—the barely visible seam inside the ventilation shaft. The engineering team had done their work perfectly.
A small push.
A soft click.
Warm air kissed my face as the hidden panel opened.
Freedom.
But I didn’t leave.
Not yet.
Instead, I stepped back into the center of the freezer, positioning myself exactly where the cameras could capture me—weak, motionless, a woman moments from death.
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Because the performance mattered.
Everything depended on what Nathan believed happened in this room.
