Chapter 10 - The Price of Treason
Julian slammed his back against the locked oak door, his breathing ragged, his refined, expensive suit suddenly looking ridiculous on his trembling frame. He looked at his wife, his eyes filled with a desperate, pathetic pleading.
"Chloe... Chloe, baby, listen to me," Julian begged, holding his hands up. "I did this for us! I did this for our future! Your mother was going to leave everything to a charitable trust! She was going to leave us with nothing! I was trying to save us!"
"You tried to murder my mother!" Chloe screamed, her voice echoing off the white cabinets. "You hired a killer to beat her to death in her own kitchen!"
"It wasn't supposed to be painful!" Julian pleaded frantically, sweat pouring down his face. "Rachel promised it would be quick! A single blow! No suffering!"
"How thoughtful of you," Nora said dryly, stepping between Julian and the rest of the room. She picked up the thick leather folder Julian had dropped, opening it to inspect the trust transfer documents inside. "Fifty million pounds. All transferred to a shell corporation in Panama, controlled entirely by you, with Victoria receiving a tiny annuity to stay quiet in Zurich."
She closed the folder with a sharp clap.
"You didn't just plan to kill me, Julian," Nora continued, her eyes cold as winter ice. "You planned to abandon my daughter the moment the money cleared. Victoria was meant to sign a revised will eight weeks from now, cutting Chloe out entirely."
Chloe gasped, looking at Julian as if he were a poisonous viper that had been coiled around her neck for years. "Is that true?"
"No! She's lying! She's trying to turn you against me!" Julian yelled, his eyes darting wildly around the room, searching for a weapon, a leverage point, anything. "Chloe, you know I love you!"
"Shut up!" Chloe roared, tears of absolute hatred spilling down her cheeks. "Don't you ever say my name again!"
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Nora walked over to her kitchen counter, pressing a small, concealed button built into the side of the cabinetry. A low chime sounded throughout the house as the estate's internal security system activated, locking all exterior shutters and gates automatically.
"The house is sealed, Julian," Nora announced calmly. "And now we come to the matter of how we shall handle your disposal."
