Chapter 4 - The Accomplice
I stared at Julian, the man I thought I knew dissolving into a stranger right before my eyes. Every shared laugh, every anniversary dinner, every comforting hug after a hard day—it was all coated in the filth of a calculated murder plot.
“You agreed to this?” My voice was barely a breath, carrying a lethal quietness that made Julian recoil. “You let your own mother put poison in my teacup every single morning?”
“I didn't want you to die!” Julian sobbed, lunging forward to grab my hands, but I yanked them back as if he carried a plague. “Mom promised she was just micro-dosing! Just enough to make you look frail, to force you to stop working so we could claim neurological decline! She said it was safe, Nora! I swear to God, I never wanted her to kill you!”
“You absolute monster,” I hissed, stepping back. “You traded my life for your brother’s gambling debts and a payout. You watched me suffer for months. You saw me losing hair, struggling to walk, crying in pain—and you just let her do it.”
Before Julian could answer, the front door clicked open.
Step-by-step, small footsteps echoed across the hardwood floor.
“Mommy?”
My heart seized. Chloe. I had left her in the car with Sienna, but she must have slipped out the back door when Sienna wasn't looking, walking around to find us.
“Chloe, stop!” I screamed, sprinting toward her.
But it was too late.
Standing on the front porch, holding Chloe gently by the hand, was a woman I had never seen before. She wore an expensive designer coat, sunglasses pushed up onto her head, and a chilling, predatory smile.
“Well, well,” the woman said smoothly, her voice dripping with dangerous confidence. “Family reunions are always so emotional.”
Julian froze, turning pale as paper. “Aria… what are you doing here?”
May you like
Aria. The name hit me like a physical blow. David Vance’s wife. The missing link in the syndicate operating right under my roof.
“David sent me,” Aria replied, casually pulling a sleek silver pistol from her designer handbag and leveling it straight at my chest. “Turns out, your mother is a clumsy old fool who left a paper trail. And since Nora is already digging too deep… we’re going to finish what Eleanor started, right here and right now.”
