Chapter 6 - The Confession in the Dark
"Played?" Marcus scoffed, his grip tightening on the revolver until his knuckles turned blue. "I saw the security files she accessed. I read her own handwriting. Don't insult my intelligence, Arthur. You trained her for this exact moment."
"I trained my daughter to run our legitimate shipping business, not to infiltrate the den of vipers you call a family!" Arthur shot back, his voice rising in frustration as he descended the remaining steps and stood face-to-face with Marcus, refusing to flinch away from the barrel of the gun. "Marcus, think! When was the last time you actually spoke to Emma without Victoria being present? When was the last time Victoria gave you clear, unhindered access to her?"
Marcus’s breath hitched. A flicker of doubt—small, fragile, but piercing—cut through his rage. He remembered the pool. He remembered Victoria refusing to call an ambulance, triggering the silent alarm, and slipping that vial into Emma's hand while the guards held him down.
"Victoria... Victoria showed me the letter after Emma supposedly fled," Marcus murmured, his voice losing its thunderous edge for a fraction of a second.
"Victoria is a monster," Arthur said quietly, stepping even closer. "She murdered your father, Marcus. She staged his car crash on these very cliffs twenty years ago because your father discovered she was embezzling millions from the Vance Corporation to fund her own secret accounts. I tried to warn him, but we were too late. And do you know who else knows the truth? Emma. She found the ledger in Victoria’s private safe last week. That’s why Victoria had to silence her. That’s why she staged that 'accident' at the pool tonight."
The world seemed to stop spinning. The gun in Marcus’s hand felt suddenly heavy, like a lead weight dragging him down. The pieces of the puzzle began snapping into place with terrifying clarity—the sudden hostility, the fabricated letter, the cold, calculated look in Victoria’s eyes as she forced that vial down Emma’s throat.
"No..." Marcus whispered, his face draining of all color. "No, that's impossible. My mother... my mother wouldn't..."
"Your mother killed your father, and right now, she is finishing off the only person standing between her and absolute power," Arthur said, grabbing Marcus by the shoulders and shaking him slightly to snap him out of his shock. "Emma is still alive, locked away in that subterranean dungeon beneath your estate. If we don't hurry, Victoria will finish what she started."
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Before Marcus could process the devastating weight of the revelation, the sound of heavy gunfire shattered the front windows of the mansion. Shards of glass rained across the marble floor as red laser sights danced across the walls.
"Ambush!" Arthur yelled, shoving Marcus out of the line of fire as a volley of bullets ripped through the foyer.
