Chapter 7 - The Screen Goes Live
Victoria’s fake tears instantly dried up. A sudden, sharp chill of uneasy fear crossed her features. "Julian... what projection screen? What are you talking about?"
With a soft mechanical hum, a massive ten-foot motorized display screen descended from the ceiling above the grand fireplace. The room’s chandeliers dimmed automatically, and the large display flared to life in brilliant color.
"You told me you installed cameras in my house, Victoria," Julian said, stepping back and folding his arms across his chest. "You were right. You installed four."
He turned his dark eyes toward her, a predatory smile breaking across his face.
"What you didn't know... is that I have thirty-two."
Victoria went deathly pale. "What...?"
The massive screen flickered, and suddenly, crisp audio filled the grand hall.
The footage from two days ago began to play in full color.
The entire room watched as Victoria slapped me across the face.
They watched as she grabbed Chloe’s stuffed bunny and threw it into the roaring fire while the four-year-old girl wept on her knees.
They heard her clear, vicious voice ringing through the speakers: "When your father isn't home, you listen to me the first time... I'll make sure your father sends both of you away to a boarding school in the middle of nowhere!"
Victoria gasped, backing away toward the front door, her hands shaking uncontrollably. "No... no, that's... that's edited! That's fake! Someone manipulated the video!"
"Silence," Julian growled, a single word that made the entire house tremble.
The video skipped forward to midnight.
The screen showed Victoria opening Julian's safe with the stolen code. It showed her slipping the diamond necklace into my apron pocket while I stood with my hands visible and open.
And then came the final clip.
The screen displayed Victoria kissing Dominic Rossi in Julian's private study.
Her own voice blasted through the hall speakers, loud and clear enough for every guard in the estate to hear:
"He's too old, too soft, and too obsessed with those two useless little girls... Within three months, Julian Vance will be in the ground, his daughters will be in an orphanage in Europe, and you and I will run the entire East Coast network."
The footage stopped. The screen went black.
The silence in the grand foyer was so absolute you could hear the rain tapping against the high stained-glass windows.
Victoria fell to her knees on the marble floor, her polished composure completely shattered into thousands of panicked pieces. "Julian... please! Please, it was Dominic! He forced me! He threatened my family! I love you, Julian! I love your daughters!"
The front doors burst open, and four of Julian’s tactical enforcers dragged a bound, bleeding Dominic Rossi into the foyer, tossing him onto the floor beside her.
Julian walked slowly over to the weeping woman. He didn't raise his voice. He didn't draw a weapon. His mere presence over her was terrifying enough to stop her breathing.
"You touched my daughters," Julian whispered, his voice echoing like a tolling church bell. "You burned their joy. You framed the woman who raised them. And you brought a rat into my house."
"Julian... mercy! Please!" Victoria sobbed, crawling toward his shoes.
Julian stepped back, refusing to let her touch him.
"Leo," Julian commanded softly.
"Yes, Boss?"
"Take them to the subterranean facility. Dominic’s family will surrender every territory they hold in New York by noon today if they ever want to see his body again. As for Victoria..."
Julian looked down at her with pure, unadulterated coldness.
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"...she will spend the rest of her life reflecting on how quiet a basement can be."
The enforcers grabbed Victoria and Dominic by their arms, dragging them screaming and kicking out of the grand foyer into the dark corridors below. Her frantic pleas echoed until the heavy soundproof doors slammed shut, cutting off her voice forever.
