Chapter 8 - The Confrontation
"Julian, listen to me," Victoria began, retreating a step into the hallway as Julian advanced. "I did what was necessary to preserve the Sterling name! You were falling apart. You would have let the entire board strip your assets away!"
"You terrorized my daughter," Julian said, his voice devoid of mercy. "You told an innocent five-year-old child that grief would drown her."
"She was slowing you down!" Victoria hissed, her desperation stripping away her polite mask. "She sat like a ghost in that room, ruining every public appearance, threatening the stability of the foundation. I was going to fix this family!"
"You were going to hollow it out for profit," Elena interrupted, stepping out of the study. She stood beside Julian, not as a victim, but as Clara's mother. "You orchestrated an accident on a mountain road, left me for dead, and tried to steal a child's inheritance. Your ambition blinded you to basic humanity."
Two plainclothes detectives from the State Police emerged from the foyer staircase, accompanied by the estate's chief guard.
"Victoria Vance," Detective Miller announced, producing an arrest warrant. "You are under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder, grand larceny, and corporate fraud."
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Victoria looked frantically from Julian to the attorneys she had brought, but they stepped backward, refusing to intervene. Handcuffs clicked sharply around her wrists. As she was escorted down the grand staircase, she turned back with venom in her eyes, but Elena did not watch her leave.
Elena turned her back on the noise, walking straight toward the corridor where Clara was waiting.
