Chapter 6 - The Fall of the House
Julian closed the distance between them in a fraction of a second, his broad hand catching Matthias by the throat and slamming him violently back against the trunk of the Fraser fir tree.
CRASH.
Several heavy glass ornaments fell to the floor, exploding into hundreds of sparkling, colorful shards around their shoes.
"Don't you ever raise your voice to her," Julian whispered, his fingers tightening around Matthias’s collar, pinning him effortlessly against the tree.
Matthias clawed desperately at Julian’s wrist, his face turning dark red, his legs kicking uselessly against the hardwood.
"Julian, stop!" Eleanor screamed, covering her face in horror. "He's your brother!"
"He stopped being my brother the night he locked the engine room hatch, Mother," Julian replied without looking back at her.
He dropped Matthias onto his knees among the shattered glass.
Matthias slumped against the tree base, gasping frantically for air, clutching his throat, his expensive tuxedo jacket torn and covered in pine needles.
At that moment, the heavy double oak front doors were shoved open from the outside.
A dozen red and blue strobe lights flashed through the high frosted glass windows of the grand foyer.
Six uniformed officers from the Connecticut State Police and four federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security Investigations marched into the ballroom, led by a sharp-looking woman in a charcoal trench coat holding a federal arrest warrant.
"Matthias Dre! Fiona Vale!" the lead agent announced, her voice booming through a megaphone. "You are under arrest for federal wire fraud, corporate embezzlement, and three counts of maritime manslaughter!"
Fiona broke into loud, hysterical sobs as the agents immediately clicked steel handcuffs around her wrists.
Matthias offered no resistance. He remained kneeling on the floor, his eyes hollow and vacant as two state troopers dragged him to his feet, pulling his arms behind his back and snapping the cuffs into place.
As the officers began leading him toward the door, Matthias paused beside me.
His hair was ruined, his jaw was bruised, and his eyes were filled with a pathetic, desperate pleading.
"Evelyn..." Matthias choked out, staring at my belly. "Please... she's my daughter. Don't do this to our family..."
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I looked down at the man I had loved for four years, feeling nothing but a profound, cold pity.
"She will never carry your name, Matthias," I said softly, resting my hand over my unborn child. "And she will never know what a coward her father was."
