Chapter 2 - The Mask Slips Inside the MansionBack at the iron gates of the Hawthorne estate, the smart-home security cameras whirred quietly, recording every agonizing second.
Standing on the grand marble porch, framed by towering doric columns, was Victoria Lane.
Her immaculate white Chanel dress fluttered slightly in the morning breeze. Her diamond tennis bracelet caught the sunlight, flashing a brilliant, blinding spark. But there was nothing bright or warm about the smile twisting across her painted lips.
It was a smirk of pure, unadulterated venom.
She had watched Richard sprint out of the house after his hysterical sons. She had watched him drop his alpha composure. And instead of rushing to comfort her grieving, stressed fiancé, Victoria simply crossed her arms, tapped a stiletto heel against the marble, and watched the drama unfold with the detached amusement of a queen surveying executed peasants.
Let them run, Victoria thought, her eyes narrowing into cold slits. Let the brute find out what happens when you cross Victoria Lane. By tonight, those brats will be on a one-way flight to a disciplinary boarding school in the Swiss Alps, and Emily will be rotting in a jail cell for theft.
She pulled out her gold-plated smartphone, tapping open a secure messaging app.
A single chat thread popped up at the top of the screen: The Clean-Up Crew.
Victoria: The brats escaped. They ran to the housekeeper. Richard is out there losing his mind. Execute Phase Two immediately. I want those kids out of the country before sundown, and plant the corporate server backup drives in Emily’s apartment.
A reply popped up instantly: [Client 99]: Consider it done, Ms. Lane. But it’s going to cost an extra fifty grand to cover the local police.
May you like
Victoria: Transfer the funds from Richard’s offshore account. He’s too distracted to notice. Just get it done.
She pocketed her phone, turning back toward the mansion's massive oak doors. She practiced her most fragile, tear-stained expression in the hall mirror. When Richard came back, broken and desperate, she needed to be waiting there with open arms, ready to seal the final trap.
