Chapter 6
Victoria lunged forward with terrifying speed, swatting the phone out of Elena’s hand and sending it clattering across the hardwood floor. The screen shattered upon impact against the baseboard, cutting off the recording just as Victoria closed the distance between them.
“You think you're clever, don't you? You think a cute little degree and a wedding ring make you equal to the Vance family?” Victoria hissed venomously. “Stay away from me, Victoria! I am calling the police right now!” Elena yelled, backing away toward the open bedroom door.
“Go ahead and call them; tell them a hysterical new bride is imagining crime scenes in her husband's childhood home,” Victoria sneered coldly. Footsteps echoed loudly up the grand staircase as Julian rushed into the room, panting heavily from sprinting up the steps.
“What is going on up here? I heard screaming from the patio!” Julian demanded, looking back and forth between his mother and his wife. “Your mother just attacked me and smashed my phone because I caught her destroying evidence on our bed!” Elena cried out angrily.
Julian looked at Victoria, whose expression instantly transformed back into a picture of fragile, trembling innocence and hurt maternal dignity. “She came barging in here with a key, screaming accusations and threatening me for simply changing the linens, Julian,” Victoria sobbed softly.
“Elena, why would you accuse my mother of something so insane? Look at her, she's shaking!” Julian scolded, rushing to comfort Victoria instead. Elena stared at her husband in absolute horror, realizing in that exact moment that she had lost the battle before it even began.
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“You are completely blind, Julian, or worse, you're complicit in whatever sick game your mother is playing in this house,” Elena whispered numbly. “We are going on our honeymoon tomorrow, and we are going to forget this entire toxic episode, period,” Julian ordered with absolute finality.
Elena walked past them both without another word, picking up her shattered phone from the floor and retreating to the guest bedroom. She locked the door behind her, sliding down against the panels as the terrifying reality of her marriage settled over her soul.
