Chapter 4 - The Predator’s Lair
With Julian sitting in a federal holding cell, Evelyn was completely isolated. She had lost her son, her money, her husband, and her empire in the span of seventy-two hours. But rats are most dangerous when they are cornered.
I was working late in my father’s home office at the mansion, surrounded by boxes of financial records. The house was quiet, save for the rhythmic ticking of the antique grandfather clock in the hallway. I had dismissed the security team for the evening, needing the silence to build the final nails for Evelyn's coffin.
Suddenly, the French doors leading to the garden patio shattered.
Glass exploded across the Persian rug. I didn't flinch. I slowly closed my laptop and looked up.
Evelyn stepped through the broken frame. She looked demonic. Her expensive clothes were stained and wrinkled, her hair was a tangled mess, and her makeup was smeared down her cheeks. In her trembling hand, she held a heavy, iron fireplace poker she must have grabbed from the outdoor fire pit.
"You ruined my life," she hissed, her voice ragged and breathless.
"You ruined your own life, Evelyn," I replied, leaning back in my father’s leather chair. "I just provided the paperwork."
She raised the iron poker, stepping over the shattered glass, her eyes wild with murderous intent. "I'm going to kill you. I should have killed Arthur when I had the chance. I should have pushed him harder down those stairs."
My blood ran cold.
She pushed him. The car accident... the fall... it wasn't an accident at all.
"You pushed him," I stated, my voice dangerously soft.
"He wouldn't sign!" Evelyn screamed, tears of absolute insanity streaming down her face. "He kept talking about the trust! About you! I gave him everything, and he still loved you more! So I made him fall. And I was going to starve him until he gave me what I deserved!"
She lunged forward, bringing the heavy iron poker down toward my skull.
I didn't move.
A split second before the iron could strike me, a massive figure stepped out from the shadows of the adjoining library. It was the lead contractor from Aegis Security. He caught the iron poker in mid-air with one gloved hand, wrenching it violently out of Evelyn’s grasp. With his other hand, he grabbed her by the throat and slammed her hard onto the mahogany desk, pinning her down.
Evelyn gasped for air, thrashing wildly, but she was trapped beneath the weight of a professional operator.
I stood up, smoothing the wrinkles from my blazer. I reached over to my laptop and hit a button on the keyboard.
A clear, crisp audio recording played back into the room. "...I should have killed Arthur when I had the chance. I should have pushed him harder down those stairs..."
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I looked down at Evelyn’s horrified, wide eyes.
"I never dismissed the security team, Evelyn," I whispered, leaning in so close she could smell my expensive perfume. "And I never turn off my recording devices. You didn't just confess to forgery and elder abuse. You just confessed to attempted murder."
