Chapter 13 - The Master of the House
Nora lowered the silver revolver, her arm perfectly steady. She casually blew a thin wisp of blue smoke from the barrel before setting the antique firearm down on the marble countertop.
Chloe stood paralyzed against the wall, her hands pressed over her mouth, her eyes wide as she stared at the dead assassin lying at her feet, and then at her husband, who was curling into a fetal position, his blood pooling rapidly across the floor.
"Julian," Nora spoke softly, walking over to stand above her bleeding son-in-law.
Julian looked up, his face gray, his eyes filled with the overwhelming horror of imminent death. "Nora... please... help me... call an ambulance... I'm bleeding out..."
Nora looked down at him with the cold, clinical detachment of a scientist observing an insect beneath a microscope.
"You wanted my estate, Julian," Nora said softly. "You wanted my name, my fortune, and my life. It seems only fitting that you should leave your blood on my floor as payment."
"Chloe..." Julian groaned, turning his fading gaze toward his wife. "Chloe... save me..."
Chloe looked at the man who had tried to murder her mother, the man who had planned to ruin her life and leave her to rot. She felt a cold, hard stone form inside her chest—a piece of her mother’s unyielding spirit taking root within her own soul.
Chloe took a slow step back, aligning herself directly behind her mother.
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"You chose your path, Julian," Chloe said, her voice steady, devoid of any tears. "Now lie in it."
Julian gasped, his hands slipping from his leg as his strength vanished completely. His eyes rolled back into his head, his breathing slowing until it stopped entirely, his body slumping uselessly against the dark oak wood.
