Chapter 22 - Falling Glass and Bitter Waters
Arthur didn't have time to process her leap.
The marble foundation groaned, cracking down the center like an earthquake fault line.
"Hold on, Lily!" Arthur roared, throwing himself toward the main archway that led back into the manor's central hall.
The floor behind him gave way completely, dropping tons of antique stone, iron, and glass into the abyss.
Julian was still screaming, his fingers barely hooked into the lip of the remaining terrace floor.
"Arthur! Help me!" Julian shrieked, his eyes bulging in pure terror. "Brother! Please!"
Arthur reached the solid stone threshold of the mansion and stopped, gasping for breath with Lily pressed tight against his chest.
He looked back across the yawning gap at the brother who had faked his own death eight years ago.
The brother who had stolen millions, poisoned their family, and apparently murdered the woman Arthur loved.
Julian’s fingers were slipping from the slick, dust-covered stone.
"You took my whole life from me," Arthur said, his voice deadly quiet beneath the howling wind.
"I'm your blood!" Julian sobbed, his nails ripping against the granite.
Arthur stepped forward and extended his arm across the gap, catching Julian by the wrist just as his fingers gave out.
The weight nearly pulled Arthur down into the dark chasm, tearing at his dislocated shoulder.
"Daddy, look!" Lily cried out suddenly, pointing toward the cliff path outside.
Through the broken archway, Arthur saw the red glow of brake lights speeding away down the private access road.
Clara hadn't plunged into the sea.
She had timed her descent perfectly, dropping onto the lower service road where an idling SUV had been waiting.
"She's getting away!" Lily whined, trembling against Arthur's shoulder.
Arthur pulled with every ounce of strength left in his bruised body, heaving Julian up onto the stable stone floor of the hall.
Julian collapsed like a sack of wet flour, clutching his leg, weeping and hyperventilating.
Arthur kicked Julian’s dropped brass cane away, sending it sliding across the hallway floor.
"Get up," Arthur growled, standing over him like an executioner.
"I can't walk, you bastard," Julian groaned, wiping snot and blood from his upper lip.
Arthur knelt down, grabbing Julian by his lapels and hoisting him up against the wall.
"You're going to tell me everything that happened at Blackwood Lake," Arthur whispered savagely into his ear. "Or I will drag you back to that ledge myself."
Julian stared into Arthur’s eyes and saw no mercy left, only the cold emptiness of a man who had lost his entire world twice.
"It wasn't supposed to be a murder," Julian stammered, trembling uncontrollably.
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"Then what was it?" Arthur snapped.
"A trade," Julian whispered. "Eleanor knew about Clara's debts. Clara sold Eleanor out to save her own skin."
