Chapter 11 - THE CONFRONTATION
I stepped back from the door, my mind racing. I had no weapon. I had Sophie asleep in the back room. I had nowhere to run.
Elena struck the lock with the crowbar. Wood splintered. The door shuddered in its frame.
I looked around desperately. The window in the bedroom. Too small. The back door. I had pushed the heavy dresser against it.
Another blow. The lock gave way.
The door swung open slowly.
Elena stepped inside, moonlight spilling in behind her. She held the crowbar in one hand, her eyes scanning the dark room until they found me standing near the fireplace.
“Where is it?” she demanded.
“Where is what?”
“The drive, Adrian. You know what I mean. Give it to me. And I might leave without hurting anyone.”
“Leave? You drove three hours, broke down my door, and threatened us. You think you can just walk away?”
“I can do whatever I need to do to protect myself!” She took a step forward. “Claire ruined everything. She wrote those letters. She hid that drive. She turned my own brother against me. And now… now I have to fix it.”
“Fix it by stealing from Sophie? By hurting her?”
“Sophie is just a child!” Elena snapped. “She doesn’t need that much money! She wouldn’t even miss it! It should have been mine from the start! If your precious Claire hadn’t come along and taken everything… none of this would have happened!”
“She didn’t take anything from you! You were given every chance!”
“Chances?” Elena laughed, a sharp, broken sound. “I was given scraps! While you… while you had it all! And then Claire made sure it stayed that way! She changed the will! She locked me out! She hid proof in a child’s toy because she knew I would never look there! Clever, wasn’t she?”
She took another step closer. Her eyes darted to the bedroom door, slightly ajar.
“Sophie is in there, isn’t she?”
My blood turned to ice.
“Don’t you dare go near her.”
Elena smiled. A cold, terrible smile.
“Give me the drive, Adrian. Or I will wake up my niece. And we can ask her to hand it over. She loves her Aunt Elena. She would do anything for me.”
I stepped between her and the bedroom.
“You will not touch her.”
“Move aside.”
“Not ever.”
Elena’s expression hardened completely. She raised the crowbar.
“Then I will move you myself. I never wanted it to come to this, Adrian. But you leave me no choice. Once I have the drive… once I destroy it… everything goes back to how it should be. You will grieve. You will be broken. And I will be the only sister you have left. You will rely on me. You will trust me. And eventually… you will sign everything over to me anyway.”
“You are insane.”
“I am practical!” She shifted her weight, preparing to lunge. “Claire is gone. Lila is weak. Marcus is confused. You… you are heartbroken and easy to manipulate. It was all so perfect. Until that bear. Until that drive.”
May you like
She raised the crowbar higher.
“Give it to me, Adrian. Now.”
