Chapter 5 - The Mirage of Death
Mark fell to his knees, staring at the small screen. "No... No, she flatlined. I saw the monitor. I saw the blood."
On the screen, Rebecca looked directly into the camera lens, a cold, triumphant smile spreading across her lips. She adjusted the blanket around her son and daughter, then spoke. Her voice was broadcast clearly through the cellar's intercom system.
"Hello, Mark. Hello, Agnes. Hello, Claire," Rebecca said, her tone smooth and entirely devoid of the weakness they had spent months inflicting on her. "You look surprised. Did you really think I would let myself die at your hands?"
"You're alive," Claire shrieked, throwing herself against the reinforced iron cellar door. "Let us out! Let us out!"
"The flatline was real," Rebecca explained calmly. "Dr. Jonathan is an old family friend, and more importantly, he is an honest man. We used a safe, controlled dose of a localized beta-blocker to momentarily slow my heart rate to an undetectable level right after delivery. The blood? Synthetic, prepared weeks in advance. The chaotic rush in the delivery room was an act, choreographed perfectly to give you exactly what you wanted: my 'death.'"
Mark stared at the monitor, his mind spinning. "Why? Why go through all of this theatrics?"
"Because if I just divorced you, you would have fought me in court for years, draining my resources and using my children as pawns," Rebecca said, her eyes turning to ice. "I needed you to completely expose your true nature. I needed you to celebrate my death in front of witnesses. I needed you to attempt to steal my children’s inheritance within minutes of my passing. And most importantly, I needed you to gather in that basement."
Agnes began to weep, pulling at her hair. "Rebecca, please! I took care of you! I am an old woman!"
"You poisoned me, Agnes," Rebecca replied sharply. "Every single 'vitamin' you gave me was logged. The police have the security footage of you lacing my tea from three weeks ago. You aren't a grandmother; you are a monster."
"You can't keep us down here!" Mark screamed at the camera. "This is kidnapping!"
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"Oh, I’m not keeping you down there," Rebecca smiled. "The police are already upstairs. I just needed to make sure you were all in one place so you couldn't run. Goodbye, Mark. Enjoy the darkness."
The screen went black. A second later, the heavy thud of police boots could be heard on the stairs above the cellar.
