Chapter 5: The Frame That Exposed the Mastermind
The high-resolution thumbnail image glowing on Julian’s smartphone screen seemed to suck all the oxygen out of the humid night air. In the frozen frame, taken just moments before Elena had rushed out of the back servants' entrance, Victoria was not trying to save the child. Instead, the image clearly showed Victoria unbuckling the safety harness of the stroller and slowly, methodically pushing the wheeled carriage toward the deepest edge of the illuminated pool.
Julian stared at the screen, his fingers trembling so violently that the phone almost slipped from his grip. The grey fabric of his shirt rose and fell with his heavy, erratic breathing. He looked from the digital ghost of his wife’s malicious intent to the real woman standing before him, her manicured hands still raised in defense.
"You..." Julian whispered, the word barely audible, choked by a wave of profound nausea and betrayal. "You pushed the stroller toward the water. You were trying to drown our own son."
Victoria stopped struggling instantly. Her shoulders slumped, and the wild, frantic fire in her emerald eyes died down into a cold, dead glaze. She didn't deny it. Instead, a chillingly calm, hollow smile spread across her pale lips as she tilted her head upward.
"You think you’re so smart, Julian," Victoria said, her voice dropping into a flat, monotone whisper that sent a shiver down Elena’s spine. "With your tech company, your millions, your perfect little life. But you’re blind. You were never home. You left us alone in this mausoleum day after day while you played god with your servers."
"That doesn't give you the right to kill my child!" Julian roared, finally losing his rigid composure as a tear broke free and tracked down his cheek. He tightened his grip on the infant, pulling the white-wrapped bundle tighter against his chest as if shielding him from the very concept of his mother.
"It wasn't about killing him," Victoria spat back with venomous contempt, stepping closer despite the danger in Julian's eyes. "It was about the insurance payout and the emergency trust fund clauses. With my father’s company going under, we needed liquidity. And a grieving mother with a tragic accident... the sympathy alone would have cleared our debts in months."
Elena stood frozen in horror, the damp fabric of her maid uniform sticking like ice to her skin. She had suspected cruelty, negligence, even an affair—but premeditated patricide disguised as a tragic accident? It was a nightmare come to life.
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"You're a monster," Julian breathed, backing away from her toward the sliding glass doors. "I am calling the police. Right now."
He reached into his pocket to grab his phone, but before his fingers could wrap around the device, the harsh, blinding beam of an SUV’s headlights suddenly swept across the backyard, cutting through the darkness and illuminating the entire pool deck in stark white light.
