Chapter 11: The Confrontation of Truth
Daniel entered the guest wing, the door locking behind him with a heavy, final click. Veronica was sitting on the edge of the bed, her bravado long gone, replaced by a hollow, flickering terror. She didn't look up as he approached. She didn't try to defend herself. She knew the game was over. "Why?" he asked, his voice surprisingly calm, which only made it more terrifying.
Veronica laughed, a broken, jagged sound. "Because you were so blind, Daniel! You wanted a pretty trophy, I wanted a legacy. We were a match made in hell." She looked up, her eyes wide, desperate. "I didn't hurt her because I hated her. I hurt her because she reminded me that I was a fraud. Every time she looked at me with those eyes... I saw what I wasn't."
Daniel stared at her, feeling a profound sense of disgust. She wasn't a mastermind; she was just a small, broken person who had projected her own emptiness onto others. "You're going to tell the truth, Veronica. You're going to sign a full confession, and then you're going to disappear. If you don't, I will ensure that the rest of your life is spent in a place much smaller than this room."
