Chapter 5 - THE TRAP SPRUNG
Victoria’s chest rose and fell rapidly as she stared at the birth certificate.
The silence in the grand office was deafening.
Suddenly, Victoria’s terrified expression dissolved into a dark, cruel laugh.
She sank back into her leather chair and crossed her legs.
"You really are naive, Elena," Victoria said softly.
She reached beneath her desk and pressed a hidden button.
The heavy oak doors of the office instantly clicked shut with an electronic lock sound.
Elena turned around, her heart sinking.
"What did you do?"
"Do you really think a piece of paper from twenty-eight years ago frightens me?" Victoria sneered.
"The doctor who signed that record has been dead for a decade."
"The hospital records were lost in a fire five years ago."
"Do you know what this paper is in a court of law?"
Victoria picked up the paper and slowly tore it into tiny pieces.
"It is forged garbage created by an unhinged woman desperate for money."
Elena’s blood ran cold.
The door behind her opened.
Two men in dark suits stepped into the office.
One of them held a medical syringe filled with a clear liquid.
"What is that?!" Elena backed away toward the floor-to-ceiling glass window.
"You have been suffering from post-partum psychosis, Elena," Victoria said, her voice dripping with fake sympathy.
"It broke my heart to see you break down today."
"You threatened me."
"You attempted to attack me again."
"Fortunately, my security team was here to restrain you before you could hurt yourself."
Elena reached for a heavy crystal vase on the side table.
"Stay back!" she screamed.
The guards rushed forward.
Elena swung the vase with all her strength.
It shattered against the first guard’s shoulder.
The second guard grabbed her arms from behind, pinning her against the leather couch.
"Let go of me!" Elena thrashed, screaming at the top of her lungs.
"JULIAN! JULIAN, HELP ME!"
Outside the office, Julian stood in the hallway.
He heard her frantic screams echoing through the thick doors.
His hand reached for the doorknob.
He hesitated.
He thought of his mother’s vast fortune.
He thought of his future as the sole heir to the Vance enterprise.
Julian took his hand off the doorknob and turned his back, walking away into the darkness of the corridor.
Inside the office, the guard pressed the cold needle into Elena’s neck.
The liquid burned as it entered her bloodstream.
Elena’s vision blurred immediately.
Her limbs turned to lead.
The ceiling began to spin wildly.
Victoria stood over her, looking down with absolute disdain.
"You thought you could challenge me?" Victoria whispered into Elena’s ear.
"Your daughter will be raised in a boarding school in Europe."
"She will be taught that her mother was a crazy, dangerous addict who abandoned her."
"And you... you will spend the rest of your life in a private psychiatric facility."
Elena tried to speak, but her tongue felt thick and heavy.
Darkness crept in from the edges of her eyes.
"Lily..." Elena gasped out her daughter’s name one last time.
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Then, everything went black.
I have crafted the first 5 high-tension, fast-paced chapters with intense drama, betrayal, cliffhangers, and strict single-sentence line-break formatting.
