Chapter 6 - The Glass Shatters
Before Madeline could swing the tray, a dark, silver blur exploded from the shadows of the hallway floor.
It wasn't Duchess.
It was Barnaby.
The massive, fourteen-pound Maine Coon—his arm still wrapped in a white veterinary bandage where his IV line had been—leaped from the dark hallway straight onto Madeline’s shoulder, his heavy claws sinking deep into the thick silk of her ivory robe.
“NOT THE CHILD, YOU VILE FRAUD!” Barnaby roared in my mind, his wild blue eyes flashing with ancient feline fury.
Madeline let out a blood-curdling shriek as the cat’s weight threw her off balance.
The silver tray slipped from her hands. The porcelain cup smashed against the hard oak floor, splashing boiling milk and shattered white ceramic across her silk slippers and the Persian rug.
"GET IT OFF ME! GET THIS BEAST OFF ME!" Madeline screamed, flailing blindly as she hit the wall, knocking a brass wall sconce sideways.
I grabbed Madeline’s wrist, twisting her arm behind her back to pin her against the wood paneling, while Barnaby landed lightly on his feet beside the spilled milk, his fur standing completely on end, his teeth bared in a terrifying hiss.
"Sophie! Stay in your room!" I shouted over my shoulder.
"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"
Arthur’s voice thundered down the corridor like a cannon shot.
He rounded the corner of the gallery at a full sprint, wearing dark trousers and a half-buttoned white shirt, flanked by Holloway and two heavy-set estate security guards holding flashlights and handguns.
Arthur stopped dead in his tracks at the scene:
Madeline pinned against the wall under my arm, screaming hysterically; the shattered porcelain cup and spilled milk on the floor; Barnaby standing guard with a bandaged leg; and my glowing phone displaying the photograph of Madeline in the stable mud.
"Arthur!" Madeline wailed, instantly shifting into frantic tears. "Arthur, help me! This crazy woman attacked me! She tried to poison Sophie with warm milk and blamed it on me! She let that wild animal loose in the house!"
Arthur didn't look at her. He looked at the floor, at the spilled milk, at Barnaby, and finally at me.
"Lily," Arthur said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "Explain."
I didn't loosen my grip on Madeline’s arm. I held up my phone with my free hand and handed it to Arthur.
"Swipe left, Mr. Sterling," I said, breathing heavily. "There are three photos and a video recorded at 12:42 AM behind the stable manure pit. She was attempting to dispose of three blue glass vials containing the same toxin found in Barnaby’s water dish."
Arthur took the phone.
As his thumb swiped across the glass, his face went through a terrifying transformation. The exhaustion vanished, replaced by an absolute, terrifying void of pure, dark fury.
He watched the video. He heard Madeline’s recorded voice on the clip muttering about the Richmond lab and the courier.
Arthur slowly lowered the phone. He looked at Madeline.
"Where are the vials, Madeline?" he asked. His voice wasn't loud. It was a cold, flat whisper that sent a shiver through the entire room.
"Arthur, she forged those!" Madeline sobbed, struggling against my grip. "It's AI! It's a digital fake! She’s trying to steal you from me! She wants your money!"
"Holloway," Arthur commanded without breaking eye contact with Madeline. "Search her suite. Check the pockets of her waterproof coat."
"Right away, sir," Holloway said, his face pale as he hurried down the hall.
Two minutes later, the old butler returned, carrying a velvet-lined jewelry box. Inside lay two blue glass vials with rubber stoppers, along with a small, leather-bound notebook filled with handwritten chemical formulas and financial account numbers in Atlanta.
Holloway presented the box to Arthur. "Found in the lining of her rain jacket, Mr. Sterling."
Arthur looked down at the vials, then slowly met Madeline’s eyes.
"You tried to poison my cat," Arthur said softly. "And tonight, you brought a cup of poisoned milk to my daughter’s bedroom."
"Arthur, please!" Madeline screamed as the two security guards stepped forward and seized her arms, replacing my grip with steel-like holds. "I loved you! Everything I did was for us! We were going to build an empire together! That child... that child was always looking at me with Eleanor's eyes! She knew! She always knew!"
Arthur stepped closer to her, his shadow completely swallowing her trembling frame.
"Did you touch Eleanor?" he asked, his voice shaking with a rage that shook the very foundations of the house.
Madeline didn't answer. She threw her head back and laughed—a bitter, broken, psychotic laugh that echoed through the high ceilings of the estate.
"She was weak, Arthur!" Madeline spat, her blue eyes wild with madness. "She spent all her time reading books and planting flowers while you built Sterling Development! She didn't deserve this house! She didn't deserve you! A few drops of digitalis in her lavender tea every afternoon, and her little heart just couldn't keep up..."
A collective gasp went through the staff standing in the hallway.
Sophie stood in the archway of her bedroom, holding a stuffed rabbit, her small face pale in the dim light.
May you like
Arthur looked over at his daughter, then back at the guards.
"Take her to the holding room in the basement," Arthur ordered, his voice breaking slightly. "Call the State Police. Tell the Special Investigations Unit that we have a confession for a double attempted murder and the homicide of Eleanor Sterling."
