Chapter 4 - The Past Catches Up
Victoria let out a hollow, bitter laugh, leaning against the doorframe as the last vestiges of her manufactured life crumbled around her. "Your father found out six months before he died. He threatened to cut me out of the will entirely, to leave every penny to charity and expose my entire past."
"So you killed him," Mark said, the words falling like lead weights in the small, silent room.
"He had a weak heart, Mark," Victoria replied coldly, stepping closer. "All I did was make sure his emergency medication was... misplaced during one of his episodes. It was self-defense for the life I had built."
Elena stepped between them, her eyes flashing with anger. "And Emma? What was her excuse? She was just a little girl standing in the way of your next financial inheritance!"
"Emma is a reminder of everything I couldn't control," Victoria snapped, her voice rising in a sharp shriek. Before either of them could react, Victoria lunged sideways, slamming the heavy wooden door of room 317 shut from the outside with a violent thud.
A heavy metal bolt slid home with a loud clack.
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"Victoria! Open this door!" Mark shouted, throwing his weight against the wood, but the reinforced historical frame held firm.
"Enjoy your family history lesson, Mark!" Victoria's muffled voice called out from the corridor. "By tomorrow morning, I'll be across the border, and this house will be nothing more than ashes."
