Chapter 7 - Trapping the Viper
Victoria stood up abruptly, knocking her chair back against the hardwood floor.
"You've been listening to that crazy maid, haven't you?!" she shrieked, backing toward the hallway. "She's poisoning your mind! I am your wife, Julian! I have legal custody of those children!"
"You have nothing," a raspy, trembling voice spoke from the archway.
Victoria froze.
Standing in the doorway of the dining room was Clara.
She had removed the oversized tortoiseshell glasses. She had unpinned her maid’s cap, letting her long, dark brown hair fall across her shoulders. And she had removed the silk scarf, exposing the silver burn scars on her jawline.
Her hazel eyes—the exact same luminous hazel eyes that Julian had fallen in love with ten years ago—were burning with fierce, unbreakable maternal strength.
"Elena..." Victoria gasped, stumbling backward against the credenza. "No... no, you're dead! You froze in that ditch!"
"I woke up, Victoria," Elena whispered, stepping into the room. Her voice was cracked, but it carried the weight of four years of unimaginable suffering. "Every time I wanted to give up in that charity hospital, every time the skin grafts burned, I heard my babies crying for me. God kept me breathing so I could come back for my sons."
Julian walked across the room, stepping between Victoria and Elena. He reached out with trembling hands, gently cupping Elena’s scarred cheek.
"Elena," Julian whispered, tears streaming freely down his face. "My love... you're home."
May you like
"Julian," Elena sobbed, leaning into his touch. "I'm so sorry I couldn't speak sooner. She told me... she sent letters to the clinic saying if I ever showed my face, she would kill the boys."
Julian’s eyes turned toward Victoria with an aura of absolute, lethal wrath.
