“Leave or I’ll tell the police you poisoned him.”
Fear flickered in Vanessa’s eyes. But Noah clutched her leg. She straightened.
“No. Mr. Cole hired me. Only he can fire me. I’m not leaving.”
Victoria’s smile turned venomous. “Fine. Stay. But tomorrow those brats are going to a military school overseas. Enjoy your last night with them.”
Her cruelty escalated. She locked the pantry. When Vanessa showed her the twins’ empty formula can, Victoria mixed sugar into tap water.
“Give them this. Poor kids survive.”
“They’re babies!”
Vanessa used her savings to buy more formula. Victoria poured it into the toilet.
“Let them feel hunger,” she said.
From his hidden tablet feed, Adrian watched, fury building as Vanessa secretly mashed fruit to feed his sons.
That night Victoria’s lover, Derek, arrived. They drank Adrian’s wine at the foot of his bed.
“Where’s the offshore money?” Derek asked.
“We’ll use his fingerprint,” Victoria replied.
They forced Adrian’s limp finger onto a tablet.
“Six million transferred,” Derek grinned.
“And tonight we finish it,” Victoria whispered. “Potassium. Cardiac arrest. We blame the maid.”
Vanessa, hiding nearby, recorded everything.
“Goodbye, darling,” Victoria said, lifting a syringe.
“No!” Vanessa screamed, tackling Derek. The syringe flew.
“Murderers! I recorded you!”
Derek smashed her phone and beat her to the floor. Victoria prepared another syringe.
“First him, then her.”
The needle lowered.
Adrian’s hand shot up, crushing Victoria’s wrist. A bone snapped.
“I’m not done yet,” he growled, ripping off the wires.
Derek lunged with a knife. Weakened but fueled by adrenaline, Adrian dodged. As the blade came down again, Vanessa, bleeding and dizzy, smashed a lamp over Derek’s head.
Sirens wailed outside.
Victoria instantly tore her blouse and threw herself on the floor as police burst in.
“She attacked us!” she cried. “She poisoned him!”
Adrian tried to speak, but exhaustion overtook him. Vanessa was arrested, still shouting about the children.
Victoria smiled from the porch.
But she forgot the house was fully automated.
Every word had been recorded through hidden audio systems and uploaded to secure cloud storage.
At the hospital, Adrian demanded his lawyer retrieve the files.
“I have everything,” the lawyer said. “They confessed to attempted murder.”
Adrian ripped out his IV and rushed home.