Mark threw open the heavy oak doors of the master bedroom just in time to see Victoria desperately shoving paperwork and small lockboxes into a designer leather bag. She turned around, holding a heavy silver candle holder in her hand like a weapon.
Victoria: Back off, Mark! I mean it!
Mark: Give me the key, Victoria. It's over.
Victoria: Over? You have no idea what I built here! I saved this family! You were a broken wreck after she vanished! I gave you a life! I gave Lily a mother!
Mark: You didn't give her a mother—you took her mother away and locked her in a hole like an animal!
Victoria: She was weak! She was going to give half of the family estate away to charity! I couldn't let her waste tens of millions of dollars that belonged to our family bloodline!
Mark stared at her, sickened by her cold greed. Everything made sense now. The huge family trust fund Sarah had inherited right before her sudden disappearance—Victoria had orchestrated her abduction to control the money through Mark after getting him to marry her.
Mark: You kept a human being in darkness for money?!
Victoria: It was twenty-five million dollars! She didn't deserve it!
Victoria swung the heavy brass candlestick at Mark's head, but Mark grabbed her wrist, twisting it until she dropped the heavy object onto the carpet. He reached past her and grabbed the red velvet jewelry box resting on the vanity table, throwing it onto the floor. Jewels, diamond necklaces, and gold rings scattered everywhere—and among them, a heavy, old-fashioned brass key.
Mark: Got it.
Victoria: No!
Victoria scrambled on her hands and knees to stop him, but Mark shoved her aside, running out of the room and sprinting down the stairs. Sirens were already wailing in the distance, getting louder with every second as police cruisers sped through the gated Texas neighborhood.
Mark: Sarah! I have the key!
He rushed down the narrow hallway near the back kitchen, searching behind the large bookshelf that covered the utility access. Pushing the heavy wooden shelf away with all his strength, he revealed a heavy iron door fitted with a padlocked deadbolt.
Sarah: Mark! You're here!
Mark: Hang on, stay back from the door!
Mark jammed the brass key into the lock, turning it with a loud, metallic click. The heavy latch released, and he shoved the door open, stepping into the darkness beyond.
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