Chapter 9 - The Purge of the Estate
Vanessa screamed and fought as the detectives dragged her across the conservatory floor, her dark green coat twisting around her arms, her polished shoes scuffing against the white tiles where she had dropped little Lily just twenty-four hours earlier.
"You can't do this to me!" Vanessa shrieked, her face contorted in a mask of pure, ugly hysteria as her hair fell wildly across her bruised face. "This is my house! I am a Vance! You'll rot in hell, Evelyn!"
Evelyn stood motionless, watching with cold, unyielding eyes as her daughter's murderer was dragged out through the heavy oak doors, followed by her weak, sobbing son.
As Julian Sr. was led past his mother, he dropped to his knees, tears streaming down his pale face. "Mom... please! I didn't know she broke the railing! I swear I didn't know! Forgive me!"
Evelyn looked down at him, her gray eyes devoid of a single drop of warmth or maternal pity.
"You traded your sister's life for an inheritance, Julian," Evelyn whispered softly, her words cutting deeper than any blade. "You are no son of mine."
The detectives hauled Julian to his feet and led him away, the heavy oak doors slamming shut behind them with a final, resonant thud that signaled the absolute end of their presence in the Vance estate.
The conservatory returned to silence.
Evelyn took a long, deep breath, feeling the heavy, suffocating weight that had hung over the house for six long months finally begin to lift. The air smelled clean again—of moisture, jasmine, and wet earth.
She walked over to the fleece blanket and knelt beside little Lily.
The child looked up, holding a bright yellow wooden block in her small hand, her green eyes clear and smiling. "Grandma... look! A house!"
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Evelyn smiled, a genuine, warm smile that reached her eyes for the first time in months. She reached out and placed her hand over Lily's tiny fingers.
"It's a beautiful house, my darling," Evelyn murmured softly. "And it's yours. All yours."
