Chapter 7 - UNMASKED
The dining room instantly fell dead silent.
The screen displayed the nursery from that morning. The audio filled the room with terrifying clarity: Clare’s voice shrieking, “Shut up, you little parasite!” followed by the sickening sight of her forcing the sedative drops into the infants’ bottles.
Clare froze. Her fork slipped from her hand, clattering noisily against her porcelain plate. The color drained from her skin until she looked like a walking corpse.
Arthur’s mouth dropped open. “Jary... what is the meaning of this?”
“Keep watching,” Jary said, his voice terrifyingly calm as he leaned back in his leather chair. “The best part is coming up.”
The screen shifted to a different camera angle—the study. It showed Clare entering Jary’s private office three days ago with a flash drive, downloading confidential financial records while on speakerphone with Arthur Vance.
“Once the trust is amended, Arthur,” Clare’s recorded voice echoed through the high-end speakers, “we double the dosage. A sudden pediatric illness, a tragic accident... Jary will be so broken he won’t notice when we transfer the offshore shares to our Grand Cayman shell company.”
Arthur leaped out of his chair, knocking his wine glass over. Red wine bled across the white damask tablecloth. “Jary, this is illegal surveillance! It’s inadmissible! You can’t—”
“Inadmissible?” Jary interrupted, standing up. He seemed to tower over both of them, his presence suffocating. “This is my private residence, Arthur. And I didn’t invite you here to negotiate.”
Right on cue, the double doors of the penthouse swung open.
Four uniformed Chicago police officers walked in, accompanied by two federal agents in dark suits. Behind them stood Olivia, holding Noah and Eli, both babies now dressed in clean blue onesies, sleeping peacefully against her chest.
“Clare Montgomery and Arthur Vance,” the lead detective said, pulling out a set of steel handcuffs. “You are under arrest for felony child endangerment, conspiracy to commit murder, corporate espionage, and attempted fraud.”
“No! Jary, listen to me!” Clare screamed, thrashing wildly as the officer pinned her arms behind her back, the emerald dress ripping at the shoulder. “It was Arthur’s idea! He manipulated me! Jary, I love you! I love the boys! Tell them to stop!”
Jary didn’t blink. He walked up to her, his gaze colder than absolute zero.
“You will never see the sky as a free woman again, Clare,” Jary whispered. “I will spend every single dollar I possess to ensure you rot in a federal penitentiary for what you did to my sons.”
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As the officers dragged the screaming, sobbing Clare and the pale, trembling Arthur out of the penthouse, the front door clicked shut.
The nightmare was finally over.
