Chapter 19 - THE FINAL BROADCAST
Benjamin’s escape triggered a countywide search.
Police surrounded the estate.
Mason ordered Elena to stay inside a secure room.
She refused.
Benjamin had spent years controlling her life.
She would not hide from him in her own house.
At midnight, every television in the estate turned on.
Benjamin appeared on the screens.
He was sitting inside Margaret’s old bedroom.
A timer counted down beside him.
Thirty minutes remained.
“Good evening, Elena.”
“You finally found the truth beneath the garden.”
“But you still do not understand why Margaret left you the estate.”
Mason traced the signal.
It came from inside the house.
Officers searched the upper floors.
They found Margaret’s bedroom empty.
The broadcast continued.
“Margaret did not choose you because you were innocent.”
“She chose you because your mother made a bargain.”
Elena stared at the screen.
Benjamin held up a recorded confession signed by Isabel.
According to the document, Isabel had discovered Anna’s body years before her own death.
She threatened Margaret.
Margaret agreed to transfer the estate to Elena in exchange for Isabel’s silence.
Elena felt physically ill.
Her mother had used a murdered woman’s body to secure her daughter’s future.
Benjamin smiled sadly.
“Every owner of this house purchased it with someone else’s suffering.”
The timer reached twenty minutes.
Mason’s officers discovered wires beneath the east wing.
Benjamin had planted explosive devices throughout the foundation.
He demanded that Elena enter the greenhouse alone.
If police followed, he would destroy the estate and every piece of evidence inside it.
Elena left through the service corridor before Mason could stop her.
Benjamin waited beneath the cracked glass roof.
He held the original final page of Margaret’s amendment.
“You had it all along.”
“I found it inside my mother’s locket.”
“What does it say?”
Benjamin handed it to her.
The original clause did not give control to Adrian.
It named Benjamin as temporary trustee if Elena died before her thirty-fifth birthday.
“You planned to kill me.”
“At first.”
“Then why did you not?”
Benjamin’s expression changed.
“Because I began to believe you were different.”
“You watched Victoria frame me.”
“I needed the family exposed.”
“You used all of us.”
“Yes.”
Elena heard footsteps outside.
Benjamin lifted a trigger device.
“Tell them to stay back.”
The greenhouse doors opened.
Victoria entered alone.
Blood stained one sleeve of her dress.
She held a gun.
“You should have killed him when you had the chance.”
Benjamin looked surprised.
Victoria fired.
The bullet struck him in the chest.
He fell against the glass wall.
The trigger slipped from his hand.
May you like
Elena caught it before it hit the floor.
The timer stopped with three seconds remaining.
