Chapter 3 - The Frame-Up
A deadly silence swallowed the den. The grandfather clock in the hallway ticked like a bomb waiting to detonate.
Henry let out a low, patronizing chuckle and took a sip of his scotch. “Are we really going to listen to the hysterical lies of a cornered murderer?”
“I’m not lying!” Eleanor shrieked. She looked wildly at Arthur. “He was supposed to be our designated driver that night! He picked us up from the frat party. He was arguing with someone on the phone, speeding. He lost control on the mountain road and hit Clara when she got out of the car to throw up. He hit her, and he kept going!”
“That’s absurd,” Henry sneered, though Martha noticed a sudden, rigid tension in his shoulders. “I was in Chicago on a business trip that weekend. Arthur, you know this.”
“Do I?” Arthur muttered, his brow furrowing as he looked at his brother. “You missed your flight that Friday. You didn't leave until Sunday morning.”
Julian shook his head, refusing to let his meticulously crafted vengeance fall apart. “No. She’s manipulating us. Mom, look at the letter. She wrote it.”
“Henry forced me to write it,” Eleanor sobbed, collapsing back onto the sofa. “He said if the police ever got close, he needed an insurance policy. He told me if I didn't write it, he would make sure my brother didn't make it to his tenth birthday. I was nineteen, terrified, and broke. What was I supposed to do?”
Martha’s mind was spinning. She looked at her brother-in-law. Henry had always been the slick one, the charmer who mismanaged his trust fund and constantly asked Arthur for bailouts. Clara had despised him. In fact, weeks before she died, Clara had threatened to expose Henry for embezzling from the family business.
Oh my god, Martha thought, a cold sweat breaking out on her neck. Clara knew about the money.
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“Why did you marry me, then?” Julian asked, his voice breaking. The absolute certainty he possessed upstairs was cracking. “If you were terrified of my family, why get close to me?”
Eleanor looked up, her eyes filled with a tragic, profound love. “Because I fell in love with you, Julian. We met by accident, I swear it. When I realized who you were, I tried to walk away. But I couldn't. I loved you too much. And I thought... I thought if I was on the inside, I could finally find the evidence to put Henry away and get justice for Clara.”
