Chapter 1 - THE SIX-FOOT MIRROR
The front door swung open with a heavy,
echoing thud.
Arthur Sterling stepped into the foyer,
leaning heavily on his polished ebony cane.
Behind him,
his younger daughter Chloe and her husband Marcus bustled in,
shaking off the crisp Boston chill.
Daniel appeared from the hallway seconds later,
his face drained of all color.
His eyes darted frantically from his father to the six-foot canvas towering above the fireplace.
Victoria stood in the doorway behind Arthur,
her smile frozen in place.
For a heartbeat,
total silence gripped the room.
The scent of roasted rosemary chicken drifted lazily from the kitchen.
Then Arthur stopped walking.
His grip on the cane tightened until his knuckles turned bone-white.
He raised his gaze toward the mantelpiece.
There,
immortalized in crisp,
unforgiving high-definition print,
was his wife.
Victoria.
Half-naked.
Reclining against his own son.
In his son's marital bed.
Arthur did not scream.
He did not curse.
He simply let out a long,
shuddering breath that carried the weight of a decade's worth of betrayal.
“Daniel,
” Arthur whispered,
his voice trembling with a terrifying,
suppressed fury.
“What in God’s name is this?”
Daniel stuttered,
his hands fluttering uselessly in front of his chest.
“Dad,
please,
let me explain,
it’s not what it looks like,
it’s a sick prank,
someone manipulated a photograph—”
“Shut your mouth,
” Arthur roared,
striking the hardwood floor with his cane.
The sharp crack echoed off the vaulted ceiling.
Victoria’s facade instantly crumbled.
The sweet,
maternal mask slid off,
revealing the cold,
calculating opportunist beneath.
She stepped forward,
lifting her chin with defensive arrogance.
“Arthur,
don't be dramatic,
” Victoria snapped,
her voice sharp as glass.
“We live in the modern age,
people are allowed to have personal lives outside of stagnant marriages.
”
I stepped out from the kitchen,
wiping my hands calmly on a linen towel.
“Personal lives,
Victoria?” I asked,
my voice chillingly steady.
“Is that what you call embezzling one hundred and fifty thousand dollars of my hard-earned money to buy a condo in Miami?”
Victoria turned on her heel,
her eyes flashing with venom.
“You pathetic little parasite,
” she hissed.
“You were always just a wallet with a pulse.
”
Arthur stared at Victoria,
his eyes wide with profound shock.
“A wallet?” Arthur repeated.
“Victoria,
everything you own,
every diamond on your neck,
every stock in your portfolio,
was funded by my estate and her architectural firm.
”
“Not anymore,
” I said quietly,
walking toward the grand staircase.
“Because as of tonight,
the accounts are frozen,
the locks are changed,
May you like
and your secrets are wide open.
”
