Chapter 5 - Beyond the Glass Walls
“Stay here,” Victor commanded, pulling a small silver hand-held security control unit from his pocket. “Lock the library door from the inside.”
“Victor, no!” Amelia grabbed his arm, her eyes wide with terror. “It’s Julian! He has nothing left to lose!”
“I know,” Victor said, his expression hardening into cold steel. “Which is why he’s not getting anywhere near you or my children.”
He gently disengaged her hand, pushed her inside the library, and locked the heavy oak doors from the outside.
Downstairs, the front doors had been breached. Julian Hale stood in the foyer, dripping wet from the storm outside, his suit disheveled, his eyes wild and bloodshot. In his hand, he held a dark metal handgun, his knuckles white around the grip.
“Victor!” Julian screamed, his voice echoing crazily off the marble walls where Victor had lay pretending to be unconscious just twenty-four hours earlier. “Get down here, you arrogant bastard!”
Victor slowly descended the grand marble staircase, his hands visible and empty. He showed no fear, no hesitation, stepping down with the calm, imposing authority that had made him feared in boardrooms across the world.
“You’ve lost your mind, Julian,” Victor said coldly, stopping at the middle landing. “The police are already on their way. The security grid alerted the precinct the moment you breached the gate.”
“I don't care about the police!” Julian roared, waving the gun frantically. “You took everything from me! My reputation, my money, my future! You think you can just replace Sarah with her pathetic sister and live happily ever after in your little palace?”
“Put the gun down, Julian,” Victor said evenly. “It’s over.”
“It’s not over until I say it is!” Julian shouted, raising the weapon directly at Victor’s chest. “If I’m going to prison, I’m taking you with me!”
A loud bang echoed through the estate as Julian fired.
Victor lunged to the side, rolling across the stone landing as the bullet struck the marble banister, sending sharp stone splinters flying into the air.
Before Julian could aim a second shot, heavy footsteps boomed from the foyer entrance. The front doors were slammed open completely as a armed SWAT tactical team poured into the mansion, laser sights painting Julian’s chest in brilliant red dots.
“DROP THE WEAPON! DROP IT NOW!”
Julian froze, looking around wildly at the black-clad officers surrounding him. The reality of his absolute defeat finally crashed down upon him. The gun slipped from his trembling fingers, clattering uselessly against the stone floor. Officers tackled him to the ground, pulling his arms behind his back and snapping hand-cuffs over his wrists.
Victor stood up, brushing dust off his clothes, completely ignoring the chaotic scene below. He turned and raced back up the stairs toward the library.
“Amelia!” he shouted, unlocking the heavy door.
Amelia threw the door open and hurled herself into his arms. Victor wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against his chest, holding her so tightly she could barely breathe. He buried his face into the crook of her neck, his body shaking with the sudden adrenaline crash.
“Are you alright? Did he hurt you?” Amelia cried, her hands frantically checking his chest and arms.
“I’m fine,” Victor murmured, cupping her face in his hands and pressing his forehead against hers. “I’m fine. He’s gone, Amelia. It’s over. He’s never going to hurt anyone ever again.”
Amelia looked up into his eyes, seeing the tears gathered in the corners of his hazel eyes—the first tears Victor Hale had shed since the day Sarah died.
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“You came back for me,” she whispered.
“I’m never leaving you,” Victor promised, his voice raw and filled with deep, undeniable devotion. “Never again.”
