Chapter 7 - The Fractured Mask
The confrontation at the gala had the exact effect Julian anticipated: it rattled Richard’s composure. Later that night, while the guests were captivated by the keynote speech, Bennett slipped away toward the museum’s private archival corridor to retrieve a digital flash drive containing duplicate records Julian had stored in a secure locker.
The hallway was quiet, carpeted in deep burgundy, insulated from the distant buzz of the ballroom.
"You think you're clever, girl," a voice hissed from the shadows.
Bennett turned sharply. Richard stepped out from behind a stone archway, his charming veneer entirely stripped away. In his eyes was the desperate malice of a cornered predator.
"You should have stayed in bed with your fever," Richard snarled, closing the distance between them. "Do you have any idea what you're destroying? Thirty years of family standing! What does a handful of rotting tenements matter compared to the Vance legacy?"
"Those tenements house human beings, Richard!" Bennett retorted, holding her ground despite the surge of adrenaline coursing through her veins. "Children live there. You poisoned them with neglect, and then you tried to poison me to hide it!"
Richard lunged forward, his hand reaching for her wrist, but he never made contact.
May you like
A hand clamped down on Richard’s forearm like an iron vice. Julian stepped into the light, his eyes burning with an icy fury Bennett had never seen before.
"Touch her," Julian said in a low, terrifying whisper, "and you will not live to see the dawn of your trial."
