Chapter 6 - The Digital Tomb
Daniel stood on the threshold, chest heaving, his expensive linen shirt disheveled, sweat plastering his thinning brown hair to his forehead. Behind him stood Victoria, wrapped in a plush robe, her face pale, devoid of the smug cruelty she had displayed on the patio.
Daniel’s eyes immediately darted past Arthur toward the open air vent on the wall.
His knees visibly weakened.
“You found it,” Daniel whispered, his voice cracking.
Arthur looked at his son. There was no rage on Arthur’s face now. Rage was an emotion reserved for men who still had hope. What Arthur felt was absolute, chilling detachment.
“I found the receipt, Daniel,” Arthur said quietly. His voice carried the weight of a judge passing down an execution order. “I found the mechanic’s name. I read the messages between you and Victoria from the week before Clara died.”
Victoria let out a strangled gasp, stepping backward down the hallway. “Daniel… you told me you wiped that drive!”
“Shut up!” Daniel screamed at her, turning back to Arthur, tears of panic spilling from his eyes. “Dad, listen to me! You don’t understand the pressure I was under! Clara was controlling! She treated me like a child, she held all the money over my head! I was in debt to people who would have killed me!”
“So you tried to kill your wife,” Arthur said, his tone icy. “And you didn’t care if you killed your three-year-old daughter along with her.”
“I didn't want Lily to be in the car!” Daniel cried, reaching out with both hands as if pleading for mercy. “I begged Clara not to take her that night! But she insisted on driving to her mother’s! It was an accident that Lily was there!”
“And today?” Arthur stepped forward, looming over his son. His shadow swallowed Daniel completely. “Was chaining her to the stone floor like an animal an accident? Was starving her so you could produce a video of an insane child an accident?”
Victoria stepped forward, her voice trembling but sharp with venom. “Arthur, you’re an old man who doesn’t understand how the world works anymore! If Daniel goes down, the Sterling name is ruined! Your legacy, your stock, your reputation—everything you built goes to zero! Do you really want to spend your final years watching your son rot in a supermax prison while the tabloids tear this family apart?!”
Arthur looked at Victoria with utter disgust. “My legacy isn't a company name on a skyscraper, Victoria. My legacy is the little girl sleeping in my room whose mother you helped slaughter.”
Arthur took out his personal phone and pressed speed dial.
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“Chief Miller,” Arthur spoke into the receiver without breaking eye contact with his son. “Bring your detectives to the Sterling estate. I have the physical evidence for the Clara Vance homicide. And bring two sets of handcuffs.”
***
