The autumn wind swept across the driveway of Maplewood Estate, rattling the windows and carrying with it the scent of fallen leaves and distant smoke. Ryan Fletcher paused for a moment at the front gate, staring at the grand house he had built for his family. Three years ago, he had lost Samantha Hayes, his wife, in the hospital, leaving him to raise Emma, now six, and Owen, now three, alone. The memory of that night—the sterile lights, the quiet yet devastating words of the doctor, and the children’s sobs against his chest—had never left him. He had promised them then that no harm would ever touch them again, and for a long time, he believed he had kept that promise.