Chapter 15 - The Final Showdown
Julian descended the grand marble staircase with his pistol leveled.
"Arthur! It's over!" Julian shouted through the dark hallway.
"The police are already on their way!"
The silhouette in the doorway turned around slowly.
It wasn't Arthur.
It was Detective Vance, wearing his dark raincoat and dripping wet.
Behind Vance were six heavily armed SWAT officers with rifles raised.
"Julian! Lower your weapon!" Vance called out calmly.
"Where is Arthur?" Julian demanded, keeping his gun raised.
"We caught him trying to slip through the perimeter fence near the boat dock," Vance reported.
"My officers have him pinned down outside."
"He’s in cuffs, Julian."
Julian slowly lowered his arm, letting out a long, heavy breath.
The nightmare was finally over.
SWAT officers moved quickly to secure the house, turning off the contaminated water valves and sweeping every room.
Ten minutes later, Vance sat with Julian in the living room while medical officers checked Lily and Chloe.
"Arthur confessed to everything on the drive over," Vance said, flipping through his notebook.
"He poisoned your wife six months ago."
"He fed Victoria fake evidence to make her paranoid about Clara."
"He even staged the incident where Victoria burned Lily, knowing it would cause maximum chaos and draw attention away from his financial trail."
"He wanted to destroy your entire family, piece by piece."
Julian stared at the flickering fire in the hearth.
"I spent six months suspecting everyone except the man who served our meals every day," Julian said bitterly.
Chloe walked over and sat beside Julian, gently placing her hand over his trembling fingers.
"You couldn't have known, Julian," Chloe said softly.
"He fooled everyone."
"But you saved us."
May you like
"You saved Lily tonight."
Julian looked into Chloe's warm brown eyes, feeling a profound sense of peace wash over him for the first time in years.
