Chapter 9 - The Confession in the Rain
The rain continued to hammer down upon them as Julian reached Martha’s side, gently taking the boy from her tired arms. Leo groaned softly, his eyelids fluttering open for a brief second before slipping back into exhaustion against Julian’s chest. Julian pulled his own suit jacket off, wrapping it securely around the boy’s shivering frame to trap whatever body heat remained.
“We have to get him to the car,” Julian said, his voice urgent as he cast one look back at Victoria, who was still thrashing beneath the fallen branch, her red dress torn and stained with dark mud.
“Leave her,” Martha gasped, leaning against the trunk of a pine tree to catch her breath. “If you free her now, she’ll shoot us the second she gets her hands on another weapon. She’s cornered, Mr. Vance. A cornered animal is at its most lethal.”
“I can’t just leave her out here to freeze,” Julian said, a flicker of his innate decency warring with the horrifying reality of what Victoria had attempted just moments ago. “Call the sheriff from the house phone, Martha. Tell them there’s been an accident on the east trail and that my wife is trapped under a tree.”
“Your wife is a murderer in training,” Martha said fiercely, grabbing Julian’s sleeve with a grip that bruised. “Do you want to know why she hates you so much, Mr. Vance? Why she wanted that boy dead before his seventh birthday?”
Julian froze, the weight of his sleeping son in his arms feeling heavier than lead. “What are you talking about?”
“It wasn't just about the trust fund,” Martha whispered, wiping the rainwater from her eyes with the back of her wrist. “Victoria’s mother didn't die of natural causes in this house twenty-five years ago. Your father knew the truth, and he blackmailed Victoria into marrying you to keep the scandal buried. She blamed your family for destroying her life, and she planned to destroy yours by replacing your lineage with a stranger's bloodline and taking everything you own.”
From the brush behind them, Victoria’s voice rose in a frantic, hysterical shriek. “Don't listen to her, Julian! She’s insane! She killed my mother! She’s the one who poisoned her!”
Julian spun around, his eyes wide with disbelief as he looked between the two women standing in the dim light of the fallen tree. The rain washed the mud from Victoria’s face, revealing a mask of pure, unadulterated hatred that confirmed every dark suspicion he had harbored since stepping into the hallway tonight.
“Is that true, Martha?” Julian asked, his voice trembling as he held his breath for the answer.
May you like
Before Martha could reply, the wail of police sirens echoed faintly through the dense trees from the direction of the main highway, cutting through the storm like a knife.
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