Chapter 14 - The Bitter Confession
The sterile holding cell in the secure wing of the state hospital smelled of bleach and industrial floor wax. Elena lay strapped to the iron frame of the hospital bed, her face bruised and pale, her right wrist handcuffed to the heavy steel rail. The glamorous facade that had defined her existence in the high-society circles of the city was completely gone, replaced by hollow eyes and hair that matted against her damp forehead.
The heavy steel door swung open, admitting Julian alone. He stopped at the foot of the bed, his overcoat buttoned against the drafty chill of the corridor, his expression completely detached.
""They tell me you haven't stopped demanding to see me,"" Julian said, his voice flat.
Elena turned her head slowly, a faint, bitter smile touching her cracked lips. ""Did they bring you to gloat, Julian? Or did you come to see the monster up close?""
""I came to sign the divorce decree,"" Julian said, pulling a legal document from his breast pocket and placing it on the bedside tray. ""And to make sure you understood that every cent your father invested in Vance Maritime has been seized under the federal racketeering statutes. Your family is bankrupt, Elena.""
Elena’s laugh was thin and hoarse, degenerating into a wet cough that shook her frail frame. ""You think my father cared about Vance Maritime? He despised your brother. Arthur found out where our family’s initial capital came from—illicit weapons shipments through the Black Sea routes twenty years ago.""
Julian didn't move. ""I know. The federal investigators found the manifests in Marcus’s safe.""
""Then you don't know the most important part,"" Elena whispered, her dark eyes suddenly burning with a cruel, desperate triumph. ""Marcus didn't recruit me, Julian. I recruited Marcus. I gave him the codes to Arthur’s private accounts. I gave him the compound that was supposed to finish that brat.""
""Why?"" Julian asked, his voice barely audible. ""What did an innocent child ever do to you?""
Elena leaned forward as far as the restraints allowed, the steel cuffs clinking sharply against the bedpost. ""Because that child isn't Arthur’s surrogate baby, you fool. Look at his medical records. Look at the blood markers from the St. Jude lab.""
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Julian felt a cold prickle of dread crawl up his spine.
Elena grinned, her teeth stained with blood where she had bitten her inner lip. ""Arthur couldn't father children; he was sterile from the radiation treatments he had five years ago. He kept it hidden from the entire family. Leo is your brother's child in name only. Ask Clara who the surrogate's donor really was.""
