Chapter 6 - The Great Escape
One of the guards lunged for Julian, grabbing the manila envelope. Julian fought back, throwing a punch that caught the guard square in the jaw. The envelope tore open, and sheets of paper scattered across the polished marble floor like a flock of white birds.
"Get the papers!" Mara yelled, dropping to her knees to gather the evidence.
Arthur lunged toward me, his hands outstretched, reaching for my neck. "You ruined everything!" he roared.
I didn't freeze this time. I grabbed a heavy metal stanchion used for crowd control and swung it with all the strength born from two decades of suppressed rage. The metal bar slammed into Arthur's ribs with a loud thwack. He groaned, collapsing to his knees, clutching his side.
"Eleanor, run!" Richard Sterling yelled, realizing the situation had completely devolved. He turned and bolted toward the exit, abandoning his own son and his clients.
Eleanor didn't hesitate. She grabbed her purse and ran toward the back exit of the building, her heels clicking frantically against the stone.
"Avery, stay here!" Julian shouted, struggling with the second guard.
But I couldn't stay. Seeing Eleanor run—the woman who had mocked my birth, who had whispered "make a wish" while serving me death—ignited something primal inside me. I chased her through the maze of the registry building, bursting through the heavy rear doors into the pouring rain of the alleyway.
"Eleanor!" I screamed into the storm.
She stopped at the mouth of the alley, panting, her expensive coat soaked. She turned to face me, her eyes wild like a trapped animal. She pulled something from her purse.
It was the silver locket from the painting.
"You want it?" Eleanor shrieked over the sound of the rain, holding it over an open storm drain. "You want the precious little memory of your dead mother? Come get it, you ungrateful little bitch!"
"Why did you hate me so much?" I cried out, the rain washing away my tears. "I was just a baby!"
"Because she was everything I wasn't!" Eleanor screamed, her voice cracking with decades of festering jealousy. "Diana was beautiful, talented, rich! And you... you looked just like her. Every time I looked at your face, I saw her looking back at me, judging me! I wanted to destroy her, and when she died, I wanted to destroy you!"
May you like
She threw her hand down, tossing the locket toward the dark, rushing water of the drain.
"No!" I lunged forward, sliding on the wet asphalt, my hands scraping against the rough ground as I reached for the falling silver.
