Chapter 3 - The Impact
The sensor caught Julian’s frantic approach, and the glass sliding doors hissed open with agonizing slowness.
The sound of the assault hit Julian instantly—a sickening chorus of wet impacts, Victoria’s panting, manic grunts, and the weak, stifled whimpers of his daughter. The clean smell of the lobby was choked by the metallic scent of fresh blood.
Julian didn't hesitate. Every instinct refined by years of stoic discipline collapsed, replaced by a wild, terrifying fury.
He covered the distance across the polished white floor in three massive, frantic strides. Victoria was in mid-swing, her arms raised high above her head, her dark eyes locked in a vacant, psychotic glare as she prepared to bring the black baton down directly onto Sarah’s unprotected neck.
Julian launched his body through the air.
He collided with Victoria with terrifying force. His broad frame slammed into her side, his arms wrapping tightly around her waist to lock her limbs. The impact sounded like a crack of thunder across the high-ceilinged lobby.
Victoria let out a sharp, choked gasp as the wind was knocked completely out of her lungs. The black baton flew from her fingers, clattering loudly against the hard tiles and spinning across the white floor until it struck the base of the reception desk.
They hit the ground together hard. Julian swallowed the brunt of the fall, twisting his hips so that Victoria hit the tile beneath him. The smooth floor offered no traction, and they slid several feet, leaving dark scuffs on the gleaming white surface.
Victoria immediately began to thrash like a wild animal. Her long, manicured nails clawed at Julian’s face, leaving crimson scratches along his cheekbone. She kicked her legs, her high heels clicking loudly against the floor as she screamed—a ragged, incoherent sound of pure malice.
"Let go of me! She's my daughter! You stole her from me, Julian!" Victoria shrieked, her voice echoing off the glass walls. Her face was flushed dark red, her eyes wild and bloodshot, popping with an unhinged intensity. "She belongs to me!"
Julian pinned her wrists against the cold tile, using his full body weight to hold her down. He was panting heavily, his heart slamming against his ribs, his chest heaving under his gray suit vest. He stared down at the woman he had once loved—the woman who had turned their home into a psychological battleground before slipping into the shadows of madness.
"It's over, Victoria," Julian rasped, his voice trembling with an terrifying mixture of rage and grief. "Touch them again, and I swear to God I will end you."
Victoria bared her teeth, spitting at his face, her limbs twitching as the adrenaline of her manic episode began to twist into frantic despair.
Julian turned his head away from her, his eyes searching the floor wildly.
A few feet away, the brown blazer slowly shifted. Sarah pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, her pale face slick with sweat, her teeth gritted against the agonizing pain in her back. Beneath her, unharmed save for the bruised cheek, Lily scrambled out into the light.
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Lily’s emerald-green eyes were huge, brimming with tears, her small purple shirt crumpled and stained with dust. She looked at her father, then at the screaming woman pinned beneath him.
"Dad..." Lily sobbed, taking a hesitant, trembling step forward.
