Chapter 4 - THE TWIST IN THE DARKNESS
Viral Title: The Maid Revealed Her True Identity! But The Husband Had One Last Sick Card To Play...
Arthur stood in the doorway, drenched in water, holding a heavy chrome revolver. Blood ran down his face from a flying piece of wood, giving him a demonic appearance in the blinking red light.
"How touching," Arthur sneered, stepping into the narrow room. "A mother-daughter reunion in the broom closet. I must admit, Maya, I was impressed when you faked your resume to get hired as our maid. But I knew who you were the day you walked into my house."
Clara gasped, shielding Maya with her body. "You knew?!"
"Of course I knew!" Arthur laughed wildly. "Do you really think a billionaire’s security apparatus wouldn't run a deep genetic sweep on a new live-in staff member? I let you stay, Maya. Because I knew if I needed a scapegoat for Clara’s 'unfortunate' death, a long-lost bastard daughter with a grudge would be the absolute PERFECT suspect for the police!"
Maya’s blood ran cold. The setup was far deeper than she had ever imagined.
"You framed me..." Maya realized, her stomach dropping. "The poison in the study... you left it where I would touch it! My fingerprints are on the vial!"
"Precisely," Arthur smiled, raising the gun. "The police will find Clara dead, you dead with a bullet in your head, and the axe covered in your fingerprints. A tragic case of an estranged daughter murdering her wealthy mother out of revenge, only for the heroic husband to shoot the attacker in self-defense. It's a masterpiece."
"You monster!" Clara screamed, trying to claw at him, but Arthur kicked her viciously in the ribs, sending her collapsing to the floor in pain.
"Goodbye, Maya," Arthur said, taking cold aim at Maya’s head.
BANG!
A shot echoed through the small space—but it didn't come from Arthur’s gun.
Arthur’s eyes went wide. He looked down at his own chest, where a dark crimson stain was rapidly expanding through his white dress shirt. He stumbled backward, dropping his revolver.
Behind him in the hallway stood Judge Thomas, holding a small, snub-nosed pistol he had taken from one of the downed security guards.
"I’ve known you for twenty years, Arthur," Judge Thomas said, his hand shaking as smoke curled from the barrel. "But I won't sit by and watch you execute a mother and her child."
Arthur collapsed onto his knees, coughing up blood, before falling face-first into the flooded hallway carpet.
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"Quick!" Judge Thomas shouted to Maya and Clara. "The fire department is breaking through the steel gates outside! We have to get out now!"
Maya grabbed Clara, pulling her to her feet, and together they ran out of the closet toward the main exit as heavy axes began chopping through the metal doors from the outside.
