Chapter 19 - The Betrayal Within
My mind spun into a dizzying freefall. Sarah? *My best friend?* The woman who had held my hand through my pregnancy, who had cried tears of joy when Ruth was born, who had comforted me after Evelyn threw me down the stairs?
On the monitor, I watched them through the silent glass. Evelyn was laughing—a harsh, barking sound that vibrated through the audio feed.
*“...the little fool still trusts you completely, doesn't she?”* Evelyn’s voice hissed through the speaker on the warden’s desk. *“Once you sign those final guardianship transfer papers under the pretext of ‘estate planning,’ the baby legally becomes mine. And there’s nothing Adam or Nora can do to stop it.”*
Sarah nodded slowly, her expression cold, devoid of the warmth I had known for a decade. *“Everything is in motion, Evelyn. I’ve already drafted the falsified documents. Nora thinks I’m helping her secure our assets against David’s fallout. She’ll sign anything I put in front of her tomorrow afternoon.”*
Tears of absolute devastation blurred my vision. It wasn't just a corporate attack; it was a psychological infiltration from the inside. The snake wasn't just in the garden—it was sleeping in our guest bedroom.
"Mrs. Miller?" Warden Thomas asked, stepping into the room with a sympathetic look on his face. "Are you alright? Should we apprehend her right now?"
I wiped the hot tears from my cheeks, feeling the raw, searing grief morph into a cold, unbreakable steel. For too long, I had been the victim—the girl pushed down the stairs, the woman hiding behind locked doors. No more.
"No, Warden," I said, my voice dropping an octave into a cold, steady calm. "Let her finish the visit. Let her walk out of this prison believing her plan is working."
"What are you going to do?" the warden asked, raising an eyebrow.
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"I’m going to give her exactly what she wants," I replied, a chilling resolve settling over me. "And then, I’m going to trap her in her own web."
***
