Chapter 6 - The Shattered Mirror
The room went dead silent.
Marcus’s fake smile completely vanished. He looked at Helena, his face turning dark with rage. "You told me the girl was dead! You told me you took care of her ten years ago!"
"I did!" Helena screamed, throwing her coffee cup against the wall. The porcelain shattered into a hundred pieces, brown liquid running down the white wallpaper. "I saw the room burn! I paid the groundskeeper to lock the door!"
Arthur stood up so fast his heavy oak chair tipped backward, crashing onto the rug.
"You confessed," Arthur breathed, staring at his wife with pure horror. "You... you really tried to burn my little sister alive."
Helena realized what she had just said. She covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes wide with frantic, cornered terror.
"Arthur... no... I didn't mean..." Helena stammered, taking a step back toward the glass windows. "I was confused! She’s playing mind games with us!"
"The confession has been recorded, Mrs. Sterling," Julian said calmly, pointing to a small, professional audio recorder sitting on the side table, its red recording light blinking steadily.
Marcus slowly backed away from the table, putting his hands up. "I had nothing to do with the fire ten years ago, Arthur. I was just helping Helena manage the corporate assets. I'm taking no part in this madness."
"You're up to your neck in it, Marcus," Evelyn’s sharp voice cut through the air. She stepped forward, dropping a thick black ledger onto the dining table. "This is the offshore registry for Apex Holdings. Your signature is on every illegal transfer for the last five years. You helped her steal forty million dollars from the trust."
Marcus stared at the ledger, his jaw twitching. He looked at the window, then at the dining room doors, realizing that the law, the money, and the family had completely surrounded him.
"You think you’ve won?" Helena suddenly laughed—a high, unhinged, terrible sound that chilled the blood of everyone in the room. She reached into her blazer pocket and pulled out a small, sleek remote control with a single red button.
"Helena, what is that?" Arthur demanded, taking a step toward her.
"If I can't have this fortune, Arthur," Helena hissed, her eyes wild with complete madness, "then no one will. This house was built on Sterling blood... and it will burn on Sterling blood!"
She slammed her thumb down on the red button.
A high-pitched electronic beep echoed through the mansion’s walls.
For two terrifying seconds, everyone held their breath, expecting an explosion.
Nothing happened.
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Helena clicked the button again. And again. "Why isn't it working?! The charges in the cellar—"
"The charges in the cellar were disarmed two hours ago by the State Police, Helena," Evelyn said softly, stepping right up to her sister-in-law. "Did you really think I would walk back into this house without checking the basement first?"
