Chapter 10: The Mask Slips
For a fraction of a second, the immaculate facade cracked. Clara’s breath hitched, and the color drained slightly from her carefully powdered cheeks. But her survival instinct was formidable. She stepped closer, lowering her voice into a sharp, venomous hiss that lacked all pretense of maternal warmth.
"You fool," Clara whispered, her eyes narrowing into cold slits. "You absolute fool. Do you have any idea what it takes to maintain an empire like this? Weakness cannot be tolerated in the Sterling bloodline. Your brother was weak. He wanted to throw away everything we built for a canvas and a paintbrush. And this new child—he was showing the same erratic temperament. I was saving this family from itself, Viktor. Just as I protected you."
"By poisoning your own flesh and blood?" Viktor’s voice trembled with suppressed rage, every word capturing the raw horror of her confession. "You are a monster, Clara. Not a protector."
"I am the only reason you have a name worth mentioning!" Clara snapped, her composure finally shattering completely as she raised her voice, abandoning all restraint. "You would be nothing without me! And you think a little piece of paper from an old archive or a chemical test strip is going to bring me down? The police won't touch me, and the courts will protect the Sterling matriarch. You have no proof that holds up in a real courtroom!"
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"I have your own words, recorded and broadcasted to federal investigators standing by at the gates," Viktor replied calmly, stepping aside as the hidden door to the adjoining sitting room swung open.
Miller, the head of security, stepped forward alongside two federal agents in dark suits, their recording devices blinking softly with steady red lights. Clara froze, her eyes widening in sheer, unadulterated terror as she realized the trap had closed around her entirely. She looked from the federal agents back to her son, the icy realization dawning that her reign of terror over the Sterling household had finally come to an end.
