They thought humiliating my son was the worst thing they could do—until I looked up at the security camera and realized the truth was already being recorded.

The threat hung heavily in the grand foyer, challenging the fragile illusion of control Julian had spent months constructing. For a fleeting second, uncertainty flickered across Julian’s face, though he quickly masked it behind a cold, arrogant smirk. He looked at Claire, expecting her to chime in with support, but the blonde woman’s eyes were darting toward the hallway windows as the autumn rain beat harder against the glass.

""Don't listen to her, Julian,"" Claire hissed, though her grip on the infant tightened nervously. ""She’s bluffing. She doesn't have the codes anymore. The IT department transferred the master keys to you last week.""

""Did they?"" Elena asked softly, a chilling smile touching the corners of her lips. She reached into the pocket of her denim jacket and withdrew a sleek, matte-black tablet device. With a single press of her thumb against the biometric scanner, the massive iron-and-glass security gates outside the front courtyard let out a loud, mechanical clunk that resonated through the floorboards.

Instantly, the recessed smart-lighting throughout the mansion flickered from warm amber to a sharp, clinical white. The smart-locks on every interior door engaged simultaneously with a series of heavy clicks.

""The master override was never in the IT department's hands,"" Elena said, her voice echoing off the marble walls as she carried Ethan toward the grand staircase. ""My father built this system with a hardwired hardware token that sits inside my personal safety deposit box—a box that requires both my fingerprint and my direct vocal command to reset. You’ve been operating on a guest network, Julian. You are locked out of the finances, locked out of the security logs, and as of three seconds ago, locked out of the master Wi-Fi.""

Julian’s face drained of color. He lunged forward toward the smart-panel mounted on the foyer wall, pressing his palm frantically against the glass screen. Instead of the usual green activation light, a flashing red warning indicator pulsed angrily, accompanied by a synthetic voice repeating: *Access Denied. Unauthorized User.*

""You insane bitch,"" Julian muttered, spinning around to face her, his composure completely shattering. ""You can't just cut the power to our wing! The baby is in here!""

""You should have thought about the baby before you threw a grieving six-year-old child onto a Persian rug,"" Elena fired back, not breaking her stride as she ascended the first few steps of the grand staircase. She paused, looking down at the man who had tried to steal her life. ""You have eight minutes left, Julian. I suggest you start packing.""

Beatrice slammed her cane against the floorboards, her face purple with indignation. ""You disrespectful wretch! I raised you! I built this family!""