Chapter 19 - The Bloodline Truth
"She was never your woman!" Eleanor screamed through muffled breaths as she managed to wrench the duct tape loose with her jaw.
Julian spun around, his cane striking the stone floor with a sharp crack.
"Silence!" Julian barked.
Eleanor glared at him with pure hatred, her eyes burning with a clarity Arthur had never seen before.
"I remember everything, Julian," Eleanor said, her voice ringing clear through the humid air of the dome.
Arthur froze, staring at his wife.
"The accident didn't take my memory," Eleanor continued, looking directly at Arthur. "Your father's doctors drugged me for two years. They told me I was crazy. They told me Arthur was my husband to keep me compliant while Julian vanished with fifty million dollars of cartel money."
"You ungrateful bitch," Julian hissed, raising his cane threateningly.
"Don't touch her!" Arthur lunged forward.
Julian moved with shocking speed, swinging the heavy silver head of the cane directly into Arthur’s ribs.
The impact drove the air from Arthur’s chest, sending him crashing onto the wet stone floor among the crushed rose petals.
Julian stood over him, pressing the steel tip of the cane against Arthur’s throat.
"It doesn't matter what she remembers," Julian whispered, leaning down. "Tonight, the tragic Vance family meets its final end. Arthur Vance kills his unfaithful wife in a fit of rage, then jumps from the cliff. And I take my daughter to South America, where the Vance name will rise again."
Arthur gasped for breath, his vision swimming.
From the bench across the path, a small voice broke through the tension.
May you like
"Daddy?"
Lily was awake.
