CHAPTER 7: THE MASTERMIND UNMASKED
The penthouse suite of the Vance Memorial Hospital was filled with the scent of fresh lilies and the soft, rhythmic sound of a newborn baby breathing. Evelyn sat up in the luxurious bed, holding little Arthur Jr. close to her chest. The bruises on her face had faded to a light yellow, and for the first time in a year, her eyes were bright and peaceful.
Arthur Vance stood by the window, watching his grandson with a soft smile. "He has your eyes, Eve."
"Thank you, Daddy. For everything," Evelyn said softly. "I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't found that phone."
"You don't ever have to worry about the past again," Arthur said, his tone turning serious. "Julian signed the papers. You are officially divorced, and he has no legal claim to my grandson."
Suddenly, the security alarm on the penthouse floor began to blare. A sharp, red light flashed near the ceiling.
Evelyn instinctively held her baby tighter. "Daddy? What's happening?"
The doors burst open, and Marcus, the head bodyguard, rushed in, his hand on his firearm. "Mr. Vance, we have a breach. Someone bypassed the service elevator using a stolen nurse’s keycard. They're on this floor."
Before Arthur could order a lockdown, a figure appeared in the hallway. It was Victoria.
She no longer looked like an aristocrat. Her hair was wild and matted, her velvet dress torn and dirty. In her right hand, she held a small, silver canister of industrial cleaning acid she had stolen from the janitor's closet.
"You took everything from me!" Victoria shrieked, her voice echoing maniacally down the hallway as she charged toward the glass doors of the penthouse. "You ruined my son! You ruined my family! If my son can't have his heir, you won't have yours!"
She raised the canister, aiming it directly through the open doorway toward Evelyn and the baby.
"No!" a voice screamed from behind her.
A man lunged out from the side corridor, tackling Victoria to the floor just as she pressed the nozzle. The burning acid sprayed harmlessly against the concrete wall, sizzling as it ate through the paint.
The bodyguards immediately swarmed them, pinning Victoria to the ground and wrestling the canister away. Marcus slammed handcuffs onto her wrists.
Evelyn gasped as she recognized the man who had tackled Victoria. It was Julian.
He was bleeding from a cut on his forehead where he had hit the floor, and his clothes were soaked in sweat. He stayed on his knees, looking through the glass doors at Evelyn and the baby.
"Julian?" Evelyn whispered.
"I followed her," Julian panted, his chest heaving. "I knew... I knew she was losing her mind. She kept talking about making you pay. I couldn't let her hurt you again, Evelyn. I couldn't let her hurt my son."
The police rushed onto the floor, sirens echoing from the street below. Two officers lifted Victoria, who was screaming obscenities, completely detached from reality.
The detective approached Julian, ready to cuff him as an accomplice. But Julian looked up at Arthur Vance.
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"I knew about the fake DNA test," Julian confessed, tears streaming down his face. "I knew it was fake a week before the incident, but I was too proud, too angry to admit I was wrong. I let my mother abuse her. I am just as guilty as she is. Take me."
Evelyn watched him. She felt no anger anymore, only a deep, profound pity for the man who had traded his soul for his mother’s approval.
