CHAPTER 5: The Snake in the Silk
CHAPTER 5: The Snake in the Silk
The dawn that followed the attack was cold and grey. The grand dining room, usually a place of polite breakfast conversation and the smell of fresh pastries, felt like an interrogation chamber.
Victoria sat at the long mahogany table, her eyes wide with a frantic, theatrical display of innocence. She was wearing a silk robe, her hands clutching a cup of chamomile tea so tightly her knuckles were white. "This is a witch hunt!" she cried, looking at Julian, who stood at the head of the table with his arms crossed, his face completely devoid of affection. "You think I did that? I was in my room the entire night! Ask my maid! Ask anyone!"
"Your maid was given a sleeping sedative in her evening tea, Victoria," Julian said, his voice dropping into a register that made the lawyers in the room shudder. "We checked the security logs for your suite. The biometric lock was bypassed from the inside at 2:45 AM. And then there's this."
He slammed a clear evidence bag onto the table. Inside was the silver-handled knife from the night before, along with a pair of muddy designer rain boots recovered from the bottom of Victoria’s walk-in closet.
"The mud matches the clay from the eastern terrace ivy beds," Julian continued, leaning down until his face was just inches from hers. "And the blade belongs to the custom hunting set your father gave me for Christmas last year. It has your initials on it, Victoria. You weren't trying to protect this family. You were trying to destroy the evidence before the DNA test proved Vivienne’s identity."
Victoria’s mask of innocence suddenly cracked. The beautiful, high-society debutante vanished, replaced by a cold, calculating woman who had been backed into a corner. She let out a sharp, mocking laugh and threw her tea cup across the room, where it shattered against the cream wall.
"So what if I went in there?" Victoria snarled, her voice venomous as she stood up, glaring at Beatrice. "You think I did this alone? Your precious family was already rotten to the core before I ever arrived, old woman! Who do you think gave me the security codes to the eastern wing? Who do you think told me that if that little maid stayed alive, the merger would fail and we’d all be bankrupt?"
The double doors of the dining room opened, and two state police detectives stepped inside, accompanied by Arthur Pendelton, who was holding a freshly printed digital report.
"The DNA results just came in from the lab, Julian," Arthur said, his voice echoing with absolute finality. "It’s a 99.9% maternal match. Vivienne is indeed the daughter of Elena Sterling. She is the rightful owner of fifty percent of the Sterling global assets."
The lead detective stepped toward Victoria, pulling out a pair of steel handcuffs. "Victoria Vance, you are under arrest for attempted burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, and conspiracy to commit murder."
As the steel cuffs clicked around her wrists, Victoria didn't look at Julian. She turned her head slowly toward the doorway, where Charles Sterling was standing, his face completely pale, his hands deep in his pockets.
"You promised me you’d handle the board, Charles," Victoria hissed as the detectives began to drag her out of the room. "You promised me that if I took care of the girl, you’d ensure my family’s construction company got the primary contract for the new rail line! You coward! You set me up!"
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Charles backed away, his hands shaking as the detectives turned their eyes toward him. "She’s lying! She’s hysterical! I have no idea what she’s talking about!"
"Save it for the grand jury, Charles," Julian said, his voice flat and unyielding. "The police have already intercepted your offshore bank accounts. You didn't just help Victoria last night. You were the one who authorized the budget for the 'maintenance' on the nursery deadbolts twenty years ago. You tried to kill my sister to steal her inheritance, and when her daughter came back, you tried to finish the job."
