Chapter 3 - The Eye in the Dark
Fifty feet above the grand living room, tucked deep behind a hidden bookshelf inside the mansion’s master suite, sat a windowless, soundproof security room that only one person in the world had the biometric key to.
Inside the pitch-black room, the only light came from a wall of high-definition monitors.
And sitting in a leather armchair, staring at the screens with eyes of pure, lethal ice, was Julian Vance.
He hadn't boarded a plane to New York.
His suit jacket was off, his crisp white shirt unbuttoned at the collar, his heavy silver watch gleaming in the blue glow of the monitors. Beside his hand on the desk lay a loaded matte-black sidearm and a glass of untouched whiskey.
On the central screen, the footage played in crystal-clear audio and video.
He saw Victoria slap Grace.
He saw his four-year-old daughter Chloe sobbing on the floor as her favorite toy turned to ash in the fireplace.
He heard Victoria threating to ship his daughters away to a boarding school.
Julian’s jaw clenched so hard the muscles in his neck strained against his skin. His hands, resting on the wooden armrests of the chair, gripped the polished mahogany until the grain cracked beneath his iron strength.
A quiet knock echoed at the iron door behind him.
Leo, his most trusted lieutenant and chief of security, stepped silently into the dark room. He looked at the monitors, then at his boss, his own face dark with suppressed fury.
"Boss..." Leo whispered. "Do you want me to take a squad downstairs right now? We can have her removed within thirty seconds."
"No," Julian answered. His voice wasn't a roar. It was a low, terrifying rumble that sounded like grinding steel.
"Sir?" Leo asked, surprised. "You just watched her lay a hand on Grace and terrorize the young ladies. You built this empire to keep them safe."
"I know what I watched, Leo," Julian said, his dark eyes never leaving the screen where Victoria was now pouring herself a glass of wine, smiling at her reflection in the mirror.
Julian leaned forward, resting his chin on his steepled fingers.
"Victoria didn't acting alone," Julian said coldly. "Three days ago, my cyber security team picked up an encrypted signal coming from inside this house. Someone installed four microscopic, unauthorized cameras in the living room and hallway."
Leo’s eyes widened. "Unauthorized? You mean... Victoria installed them?"
"She installed them," Julian confirmed, a dark, terrifying smile touching his lips. "She installed them because she wanted to record Grace 'abusing' or 'stealing' from my daughters. She planned to present the edited footage to me when I returned from New York, so I would fire Grace and trust Victoria completely."
Julian pointed a single finger at the screen.
"She thinks those cameras are feeding to her private cloud drive," Julian continued softly. "She doesn't know my network intercepted her feed thirty seconds after she plugged them in. She thinks she's setting a trap for Grace."
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"And instead..." Leo realized, a dark grin forming on his face. "...she's filming her own execution."
"She thinks I am a businessman who can be fooled by a pretty face and fake tears," Julian murmured, standing up to his full six-foot-four height. "She forgot who I really am. Let her play her game tonight, Leo. Let her show every single grain of poison inside her soul. Tomorrow, we hold the trial."
