Chapter 8 - Caught in the Act
Before Chloe could pull the folders out of the safe,
heavy footsteps stopped directly outside the study doors.
“Chloe? Why is the study door ajar?” Evelyn’s cold,
crisp voice echoed into the room.
Panic surged through Chloe's veins like liquid nitrogen.
She slammed the steel safe door shut,
spun the dial to scramble the combination,
and leaped away from the eastern wall just as the mahogany doors pushed wide open.
Evelyn stood in the doorway,
her sharp eyes scanning the room before locking instantly onto Chloe’s flushed face and trembling hands.
“What are you doing in your father’s private study?” Evelyn demanded,
stepping into the room with measured,
predatory steps.
“Nothing,
” Chloe stammered,
desperately trying to keep her voice from shaking.
“I was looking for a dictionary for the crossword puzzle.
”
Evelyn’s gaze shifted from Chloe to the oak bookshelf,
noting the slight misalignment where the heavy case had barely settled back into its frame.
A dangerous narrowing of Evelyn’s eyes followed.
“You opened the safe,
didn't you?” Evelyn whispered,
her voice devoid of any maternal warmth.
“Mom,
what is in those folders?” Chloe asked,
her voice cracking as the horrifying reality crashed down upon her.
“What did Dad do to those women over the years?”
Evelyn did not deny it.
She didn't feign confusion or ask what Chloe was talking about.
Instead,
a cold,
chilling smile touched the corners of Evelyn’s lips.
“Your father does what is necessary to protect the legacy of this family,
Chloe,
” Evelyn stated calmly,
walking closer to her daughter.
“Men of power and vision are often burdened by weak,
hysterical women who do not understand the bigger picture.
We built this empire from nothing.
I will not let a pair of ungrateful girls tear it down.
”
“They weren't hysterical,
Mom!” Chloe cried out,
hot tears streaming down her cheeks.
“They were victims! Dad drugged them! He drugged me too! He tried to drug Rebecca!”
“And you brought this upon yourself by wandering around the house like a drunken fool,
” Evelyn snapped back,
her patience evaporating instantly.
“You are a Vance,
Chloe.
Act like it.
Give me whatever you took from that safe right now.
”
“I didn't take anything yet because you walked in!” Chloe shouted,
backing away toward the French doors that led out to the back patio.
“You’re sick,
both of you!
I’m calling the police!”
As Chloe turned to run toward the patio doors,
Evelyn moved with shocking speed for a woman her age.
She lunged forward,
grabbing a heavy brass paperweight from the mahogany desk and hurling it across the room.
The heavy metal object struck Chloe squarely across the back of her ankle.
Chloe screamed out in pain as her legs buckled beneath her,
sending her crashing hard onto the hardwood floor.
Before she could push herself back up,
Arthur appeared from the connecting hallway,
his face twisted into an expression of cold,
unrelenting rage.
“You stupid,
disloyal little bitch,
” Arthur hissed,
standing over his fallen daughter.
“You really thought you could betray everything we built for a stranger?”
He reached down,
May you like
grabbing Chloe by the collar of her blouse and hauling her roughly to her feet,
ignoring her terrified screams as Evelyn calmly locked the study doors from the inside.
