Chapter 14 - Confrontation in the Cellblock
The iron gates of the Federal Women’s Penitentiary in Victorville groaned with a deafening screech as Victoria Thorne walked through the security checkpoints. She wore an immaculate charcoal tailored coat, walking with the heavy, measured stride of an executioner.
Across the bulletproof glass partition in the solitary visitation booth sat Eleanor Vance.
The once-untouchable matriarch was unrecognizable. Her platinum blonde coiffure was replaced by coarse, graying hair; her haute couture was swapped for a faded orange jumpsuit. The skin around her eyes was hollow and sallow, but when she saw Victoria sit down, a venomous, cracked smile spread across her cracked lips.
"Come to gloat, Victoria?" Eleanor rasped through the intercom phone. "Enjoying the palace you stole from me?"
Victoria picked up the receiver, her voice dropping to a whisper that vibrated through the speaker like dry leaves on marble. "Julian's master came out of the shadows yesterday, Eleanor. A strike team hit our convoy. They used Obsidian Trust tactical units."
Eleanor’s sneer vanished instantly, replaced by a sudden, sickening paleness. Her hands began to shake against the Formica counter. "Xavier... he found you?"
"Don't play the fool," Victoria commanded. "You knew Xavier was alive. You traded Mia’s marriage to Julian in exchange for Xavier forgiving your corporate debts."
Eleanor let out a sharp, hysterical laugh that echoed off the cold tiles. "Forgiving debts? You arrogant fool! You think this was about money? Xavier doesn't care about paper wealth! He controls bloodlines!"
Victoria leaned in, her eyes boring directly into Eleanor’s soul. "Explain. Before I instruct the prison warden to transfer you to the general population block tonight."
Eleanor swallowed hard, pure terror flashing across her sunken features. "Julian wasn't sterile by accident, Victoria. Xavier had him altered years ago so Julian could never produce an heir without Xavier’s medical protocols. But Mia... Mia conceived naturally. Do you understand what that means?"
Victoria’s brow furrowed, a sudden dread seizing her gut. "Speak clearly, Eleanor."
"Julian isn't Aurora’s father," Eleanor whispered, her voice shaking violently as she leaned her forehead against the glass. "Julian was shooting blanks for ten years! The embryo Mia carried was a genetic match Xavier had secretly implanted during her routine fertility checkups under my doctors! Aurora doesn't belong to Julian. She carries the direct genetic line of Xavier Vance himself! And Xavier never leaves his flesh and blood behind!"
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Victoria dropped the receiver. The phone clattered against the wall. For the first time in twenty years, Victoria Thorne felt the ground vanish beneath her feet.
***
