Chapter 10 - Blood in the Paneling
Clara emerged from the heavy steel vault door, clutching an iron fire poker, her face streaked with dust and fresh tears. Seeing the carnage, she dropped the weapon with a sharp clang that echoed through the vast expanse of the ruined penthouse.
""Mom!"" Clara cried, throwing her arms around Eleanor, who collapsed against her daughter in desperate relief.
Madeline stared at Clara, an ugly sneer breaking through her terror. ""Ungrateful little wretch. You think your father can erase what happened? Every high society drawing room in this city will know you were discarded and broken on your wedding night!""
Clara pulled back from Eleanor. She didn't look broken anymore. With slow, measured steps, Clara walked past her father and stopped three feet from Madeline. Her swollen face was pale, but her posture was straight as steel.
""You took my grandmother's necklace,"" Clara said, her voice deadly steady.
Madeline sneered, opening her mouth to spit another insult.
Clara’s right arm swung in a clean, vicious arc, her open palm striking Madeline across the cheek with a deafening crack. The force snapped the older woman's head back, scattering pearl beads across the bloody floorboards like hail.
Madeline stumbled against the cracked glass, gasping in shock as she touched her bruised lip. ""You... you hit me?!""
""I am a Vance,"" Clara whispered, stepping closer until Madeline shrank back against the glass. ""You thought you married Javier into a docile bank account. You married into a family that will tear yours out of the earth root and branch.""
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Alexander placed a gentle hand on Clara's shoulder, pulling her back. ""Well said, darling. Now let Donald escort you and your mother downstairs. The cleaners need room to work.""
""No,"" Clara said, turning to look at Javier, who remained curled on the floor weeping. ""I want to watch them lose everything.""
