Chapter 8 - The Reveal
"I don't know what you are talking about, Arthur," Victoria said, forcing a nervous little laugh.
"The police found those watches in Elena's bag."
"Did they?" I asked coldly, leaning back in my heavy chair.
"Because I found the real ones hidden in your biometric wall safe, Victoria."
"Right next to a glass vial of arsenic."
The silence that followed was deafening.
All the color violently drained from Victoria’s face, leaving her looking like a terrified ghost.
Marcus shifted nervously in his seat, his eyes darting toward the heavy mahogany doors.
"Arthur, you're not well," Marcus stammered, attempting to maintain the illusion.
"The illness is making you paranoid."
"Let's just get these papers signed."
I suddenly stood up, my chair scraping loudly against the hardwood floor.
I didn't look sick.
I looked like a king ready to slaughter traitors.
"You think I'm a fool?" I roared, slamming my fist onto the table so hard the candelabras rattled.
"You think I didn't know you were sleeping with my wife?"
"You think I didn't know you were planning to murder me and steal my empire?"
Victoria shot out of her chair, her mask of serenity shattering into absolute panic.
"Shut up!" she screamed, her voice shrill and desperate.
"You are insane!"
"We are trying to help you!"
I calmly reached into my pocket and pulled out my smartphone.
I pressed a single button, casting the screen onto the massive smart-TV mounted above the fireplace.
The screen flickered to life, displaying crisp, high-definition footage of Victoria and Marcus kissing in the French restaurant.
Then, the audio kicked in.
It was a recording Silas had captured from their encrypted phones.
"The idiot is barely walking," Victoria’s recorded voice echoed through the dining room.
"Once he signs the trust over, I'll give him the final dose."
"We'll be rich by Friday, baby," Marcus’s voice replied.
Marcus lunged across the table, desperately trying to grab the phone from my hand.
I sidestepped him effortlessly, grabbing him by the collar of his expensive suit and slamming him brutally against the wall.
"You betrayed me," I snarled, my forearm pressing sharply against his throat.
"I gave you everything, and you tried to take my life."
Victoria scrambled backward, her eyes wild with terror as she bolted toward the grand hallway.
"Where do you think you are going, darling?" I called out, my voice dripping with venom.
May you like
"The show is just getting started."
Because standing in the doorway, blocking her only exit, were six armed FBI agents.
