Chapter 6 - The Unraveling of the Matriarch
"You think you can just destroy me?" my mother screamed, her composure completely shattering as she stood up from the chair, her face turning a dangerous, mottled purple. "I built this family! You are everything you are because of my name! You won't last six months in the market without my backing!"
"I’d rather starve in a ditch with Ava than spend another day living on your blood money," I said, watching as the forensic technicians systematically pulled the leather-bound logbook and the financial ledgers from the open safe.
As they cleared the desk, my eye caught the small digital clock sitting on the corner shelf. It was an advanced model I had installed last year—one that included a tiny, high-definition security lens connected to my personal cloud network to monitor the office security.
"What are you looking at?" my mother demanded, her voice rising into a sharp, nervous register as she noticed my gaze.
"It’s the office camera, Mother," I said, pulling up the live application on my phone. "The one that records twenty-four hours a day to an off-site server. The one that just captured you holding my wife by her chin, forcing an unprescribed sedative into her mouth, and assaulting our staff."
Harrison Vance’s face went dead white behind her. "Mrs. Miller... if that device contains footage of the physical altercation..."
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"Shut up, Harrison!" she roared, lunging forward to grab my phone, her manicured nails digging into my wrist just like they had done to Ava’s skin. "Give me that device, Ethan! That is my property! It was purchased with corporate funds!"
I didn't argue. I simply lifted my arm out of her reach, stepping back as Detective Reynolds intercepted her, placing her hands behind her back in one smooth, definitive movement.
