The heavy snap of the iron padlock echoed off the damp stone walls like a gunshot[span_68](start_span)[span_68](end_span).
Clara stood up slowly, her knees aching, refusing to show fear before the monster she had raised[span_69](start_span)[span_69](end_span).
Clara: You think locking us down here will save you? The probate court will notice the missing child[span_70](start_span)[span_70](end_span)!
Julian: The probate judge already approved the death certificate at noon, Mother. The case is closed[span_71](start_span)[span_71](end_span).
Clara: And what happens when that transport van arrives tonight[span_72](start_span)[span_72](end_span)?
Julian: Doctor Vance’s couriers will take Lily straight through private customs on a charter cargo flight[span_73](start_span)[span_73](end_span).
Clara: Under a forged name? With fake documents[span_74](start_span)[span_74](end_span)?
Julian: A private boarding school in South America is taking her in. She will have tutors, a swimming pool, and an allowance for life[span_75](start_span)[span_75](end_span).
Clara: You sold your own daughter to strangers so you could live like a billionaire playboy[span_76](start_span)[span_76](end_span)?
Julian: I didn't sell her! I secured her future away from the loan sharks who were threatening to burn this mansion down[span_77](start_span)[span_77](end_span)!
Clara: You are lying to yourself, Julian! You threw her away because she stood between you and fourteen million dollars[span_78](start_span)[span_78](end_span)!
Julian: Stop yelling! Listen to me, Mother. I am offering you an easy way out of this room right now[span_79](start_span)[span_79](end_span).
Julian unzipped a black leather duffel bag on the workbench, exposing thick bundles of cash[span_80](start_span)[span_80](end_span).
Julian: There is five hundred thousand dollars in cash right here. Take it[span_81](start_span)[span_81](end_span).
Clara: You think you can buy my silence with blood money[span_82](start_span)[span_82](end_span)?
Julian: Take the money, get in your sedan, and drive back to your cottage. Forget you ever saw Lily tonight[span_83](start_span)[span_83](end_span).
Clara: And leave my six-year-old granddaughter to be smuggled across borders like illegal cargo[span_84](start_span)[span_84](end_span)?
Julian: If you don't take the deal, you leave me no choice! Do you realize what kind of federal charges I face[span_85](start_span)[span_85](end_span)?
Clara: Grand larceny, wire fraud, conspiracy, and child endangerment. You will die in a federal penitentiary[span_86](start_span)[span_86](end_span).
Julian: That’s why you're not walking out that door! I spent eight months organizing this estate payout with corporate lawyers[span_87](start_span)[span_87](end_span)!
Clara: You planned this while Sarah was still fighting for her life in hospice care[span_88](start_span)[span_88](end_span)?
Julian: Sarah never loved me! She looked down on me from her family’s high-society pedestal every single day[span_89](start_span)[span_89](end_span)!
Clara: Sarah gave you a home, an executive title, and a beautiful child[span_90](start_span)[span_90](end_span)!
Julian: She made me sign a prenup that left me with pennies if we divorced[span_91](start_span)[span_91](end_span)!
Clara: Because she caught you stealing from her family's trust fund to pay your gambling debts[span_92](start_span)[span_92](end_span)!
Julian: That’s none of your business! The money is legally in my name now[span_93](start_span)[span_93](end_span)!
Lily: Grandma, my tummy hurts. Daddy, please let us go home[span_94](start_span)[span_94](end_span).
Julian turned toward the child, his face contorted in a sneer of pure disgust[span_95](start_span)[span_95](end_span).
Julian: Shut up, Lily! If you hadn't knocked over that water can, your grandmother never would have found you[span_96](start_span)[span_96](end_span)!
Clara: Don't you dare blame a terrified child for your botched crimes[span_97](start_span)[span_97](end_span)!
Julian: Take the duffel bag, Mother! Take the five hundred thousand dollars and leave through the back garden door[span_98](start_span)[span_98](end_span)!
Clara: I wouldn't take a single cent of your filthy money if I were starving in the gutter[span_99](start_span)[span_99](end_span).
Julian zipped the bag shut with a sharp tug, his eyes darkening with cold resolve[span_100](start_span)[span_100](end_span).
Julian: Then you leave me no choice. Both of you will stay in this storm cellar until the transport van loads the cargo at three thirty[span_101](start_span)[span_101](end_span).
Clara: And what happens to me after the van leaves, Julian? Are you going to unlock the door then[span_102](start_span)[span_102](end_span)?
Julian looked away, refusing to meet his mother’s penetrating stare[span_103](start_span)[span_103](end_span).
Clara: You weren't planning on letting me out at all, were you[span_104](start_span)[span_104](end_span)?
Julian: You shouldn't have snooped around my estate, Mother[span_105](start_span)[span_105](end_span).
Clara: You would leave your own mother down here to die of dehydration[span_106](start_span)[span_106](end_span)?
Julian: The estate groundskeeper will inspect the basement next week after I land in Zurich. You'll survive[span_107](start_span)[span_107](end_span).
Clara: You are a coward and a monster, Julian Vance[span_108](start_span)[span_108](end_span).
Julian turned on his heel toward the stairs, unaware that Clara’s hand was sliding toward a heavy iron tire iron resting beside the furnace[span_109](start_span)[span_109](end_span).