Chapter 3 - The Mask Slips
Victoria froze in her tracks, the knife glinting under the soft nursery lights.
Her perfectly manicured expression shattered, replaced by genuine shock.
"Arthur?" she gasped, taking a hesitant step backward.
"You are supposed to be at the office until midnight."
"Plans changed, Victoria," I said coldly, stepping out from behind the door.
I did not lower the heavy bronze lamp.
Victoria quickly hid the knife behind her back, forcing a sweet, innocent smile onto her face.
"Darling, you startled me," she purred, her voice dripping with fake affection.
"Emily has lost her mind and tied herself to the bed with the babies."
"I brought this knife to cut her free," she lied smoothly.
I looked at her, truly seeing the sociopath I had married for the first time.
"You tied her up, Victoria," I stated, my voice echoing with pure disgust.
"You beat her, you tied her up, and you poisoned her little boy."
Victoria’s fake smile slowly faded, replaced by a cold, dead stare.
"She is a liar, Arthur," Victoria said, her tone flattening out into something terrifying.
"She is a crazy, desperate woman trying to extort us for money."
"I heard everything from the doorway, Victoria," I shot back, calling her bluff.
May you like
Her shoulders dropped, and a dark, twisted laugh escaped her lips.
"Well, this is certainly inconvenient," she whispered, bringing the knife out from behind her back.
