Chapter 7 - The Master of the House
Julian’s breath seized in his chest. The betrayal cut deeper than Victoria’s, deeper than Weber’s. Elena had been with his family for twelve years. She had held Noah as a baby. She had prepared Sarah’s meals. She had comforted Julian on the night of Sarah’s funeral.
"Elena..." Julian whispered, his gun hand trembling slightly. "What is this?"
"Put the gun on the floor, Julian," Elena repeated, her finger tightening on the trigger of her silenced firearm. "I don't want to shoot you. You’ve been a decent employer, if somewhat oblivious."
Weber dragged himself up from the floor, leaning heavily against the bookcase, clutching his bruised ribs. "She took her sweet time, didn't she?" Weber spat. "I had to take a bronze bust to the chest while you sat here downloading files, Elena!"
"Shut up, Henrik," Elena snapped without taking her eyes off Julian. "You were always too loud. Victoria was too violent. You both lacked the patience required for a long-term operation."
Julian felt the world spinning around him. The layers of deception inside his own home were suffocating. "You... you were working with them all along?"
"Not with them," Elena corrected smoothly, her eyes glinting in the dark. "Above them. Henrik provided the pharmaceutical compounds. Victoria was the greedy front-woman who drew your attention and took the legal risks. But I was the architect of this entire affair, Julian. Who do you think introduced Victoria to you at that gala three years ago? Who do you think left the study key out for Victoria to find today?"
"You set her up," Julian realized, horror dawning on his face. "You used Victoria to draw my suspicion today. You let her hit Noah so I would kick her out!"
"Victoria was becoming greedy," Elena said with a faint sigh. "She wanted to keep the trust funds for herself instead of routing them to our Swiss accounts. She had outlived her usefulness. When she hit Noah today, she gave me the perfect cover to expose her, get rid of her, and finish extracting Sarah's encrypted files while you were distracted by the drama."
"And Noah?" Julian asked, his voice shaking with a terrifying mixture of rage and panic. "Where is my son, Elena?"
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Elena smiled—a cold, terrifying expression that sent ice through Julian’s veins.
"Noah is asleep in his room, locked securely inside," Elena said softly. "He's a sweet boy, Julian. Truly. But unfortunately for him... he looks too much like his mother. And like his mother, he has a bad habit of remembering things he shouldn't."
