Chapter 3 - The Viper’s Strike
"What is the meaning of this?" Victoria demanded, her sharp voice echoing in the tense room. Her eyes darted from Elara's trembling legs to the dirt-covered boy standing beside her. "Arthur, why is there a filthy street rat in your daughter's bedroom? Call security immediately!"
"Shut up, Victoria," Arthur growled, his voice trembling with a mixture of rage and overwhelming guilt. "He knows. He has the hood ornament."
Victoria’s haughty demeanor shattered. She froze, the color draining from her lips. She recognized Leo. She recognized the fierce, amber eyes of the mechanic's son she had happily thrown to the wolves to save her own skin.
But Victoria was not a woman who surrendered. She was a survivor, a predator who had clawed her way to the top of the social ladder. In a split second, her terror morphed into venomous calculation.
"I don't know what kind of scam this is," Victoria sneered, stepping into the room and pulling out her diamond-encrusted smartphone. "But this boy is clearly a trespasser who has broken into our home to extort us. I'm calling the police. He belongs in a cell, just like his degenerate father."
"Don't you dare!" Elara screamed, grabbing the armrests of her chair and using every ounce of her newly restored strength to stand up again. The sight of her paralyzed stepdaughter rising to her feet made Victoria flinch back against the doorframe.
"You're a monster," Elara spat, her voice shaking with raw hatred. "You destroyed my life. You ruined his. And you think you can just make a phone call and sweep it away?"
"Elara, sit down, you're delusional," Victoria snapped, though her fingers were trembling as she dialed 911. "Arthur, do something! This boy is dangerous!"
Arthur stood frozen behind his desk. He looked at his wife, the woman he had compromised his soul for, and then at his daughter, who was looking at him with absolute, heartbreaking disgust.
"If you let her make that call, Dad," Elara said, her voice dropping to an eerie calm, "I will never speak to you again. I will go to the press myself. I will tear this family down."
"Arthur," Victoria hissed, her eyes narrowing. "If I go down, the prenuptial agreement is voided due to criminal negligence on your part for the cover-up. I will take half your company. The board will vote you out by morning. You'll lose everything."
It was the ultimate test. A choice between his empire and his child.
Arthur looked down at his trembling hands. "Victoria... put the phone down."
"Coward," Victoria spat. She hit the call button anyway. "Yes, hello? Police? I need officers at the Sterling Estate in the Hamptons immediately. We have a violent intruder."
Leo didn't panic. He looked at Elara, his amber eyes calm and resolute. "We have to go. Now."
"I can barely walk," Elara panicked, clinging to the edge of her bed. "My muscles are too weak."
"You don't have to walk," Leo said. He reached down, grabbed the handles of her custom carbon-fiber wheelchair, and forcefully yanked her back into it. "Hold on."
Before Victoria could block the door, Leo sprinted forward, pushing Elara's wheelchair with incredible speed. He shoved past the wicked stepmother, sending Victoria crashing into a priceless Ming vase that shattered into a thousand pieces on the hardwood floor.
"Stop them!" Victoria shrieked as Leo and Elara disappeared down the grand marble hallway.
"Leo, where are we going?!" Elara yelled over her shoulder as they flew past bewildered maids and butlers.
"The police are in Arthur's pocket, they'll arrest me the second they arrive!" Leo shouted, navigating the maze-like corridors of the mansion. "We have to get to the city. We have to find the one piece of evidence that can put Victoria away for good!"
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"What evidence?" Elara asked, her heart pounding against her ribs as they reached the service elevator.
"The dashcam footage," Leo said, slamming his fist onto the elevator button. "My dad didn't just bury the car. He removed the internal hard drive. And I know exactly where he hid it."
