Chapter 3 - The Mask Comes Off
Richard turned slowly to face his fiancée.
For months, he had seen Victoria as the perfect woman—elegant, supportive, and ready to help him raise his motherless sons. But as she walked toward them, the illusion shattered completely.
"Victoria," Richard said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "Did you put my Rolex in Emily's bag?"
Victoria's smile wavered for a fraction of a second before she put a hand over her heart. "Richard! How could you even ask me that? The children are hysterical! They're lying to protect their housekeeper! You saw the watch in her bag with your own eyes!"
"They broke through a glass cabinet to get out of the pantry, Victoria," Richard said, stepping toward her. His voice was dropping into a cold, lethal register. "Five-year-old boys don't smash glass and bleed unless they are terrified."
"They're spoiled!" Victoria snapped, her sweet facade beginning to crack under pressure. "They've been running wild because this servant lets them do whatever they want! I was trying to bring structure to this house! I was trying to clean up this mess!"
"Structure?" Emily spoke up, standing up slowly while keeping all three boys behind her. "Is that what you call telling a board of directors at St. Jude's Private Academy that you wanted three slots open for international boarding starting next term?"
Victoria’s breath hitched. Her eyes widened in genuine shock. "What... how do you—"
"I heard your phone call yesterday in the study, Victoria," Emily said coldly. "You told the headmaster that once the marriage was finalized, Richard would agree to ship the triplets to Switzerland year-round so you wouldn't have to 'deal with another woman's baggage.'"
Richard spun around, staring at Victoria in absolute horror. "Switzerland? You talked to a boarding school behind my back?!"
"They're broken, Richard!" Victoria suddenly shrieked, losing her control as the truth bled out into the street. "They don't care about me! They cry for their dead mother, they cling to the help, and they ruin every dinner party we throw! You don't need them! We can have our own children—children who aren't ruined!"
SLAP.
The sound echoed through the gated community.
Richard hadn't struck her—Victoria had slapped his hand away as he reached for her phone, but the sheer venom in her voice was enough to sever every tie between them forever.
"Get off my property," Richard whispered, his eyes burning with a rage that made Victoria step back in fear.
"Richard, wait—"
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"If you are not off my land in ten minutes," Richard said, pulling out his phone, "I will have my legal team file criminal charges for child endangerment, unlawful confinement, and framing an employee. You will leave with nothing, Victoria. Absolutely nothing."
Victoria looked at Richard's ice-cold eyes, then at the three boys hiding behind Emily, and finally at Emily herself. Realizing her golden ticket to the Hawthorne fortune had been permanently burned to ash, she turned on her heel and hurried away down the street, her high heels clicking frantically against the pavement.
