Victoria's face turned from cold indifference to twisted rage as she realized her elaborate setup was crumbling around her. She lowered the wooden bat slightly, her knuckles turning white around the handle as she glared down at Mark. "You shouldn't have come home, Mark," she sneered, her voice dropping all pretense of the sweet, loving wife she had pretended to be for the last three years. "You were supposed to be at the corporate merger meeting until six o'clock! You ruin everything!"
Mark slowly rose to his feet, placing himself firmly between his trembling daughters and the dangerous woman standing before him. His hands were clenched into tight fists at his sides, his chest heaving as pure anger pushed out the lingering shock. He looked at Victoria as if he was seeing a complete stranger for the very first time. The metallic gold dress, the expensive jewelry he had purchased for her, the flawless makeup—it all looked like a hideous mask covering a monster.
"You lied to me about everything," Mark said, his voice dangerously low and steady, vibrating with pure fury. "You told me my sister died without any children! You told me her estate was empty! You've been keeping my own biological niece hidden away, using her inheritance to pay off your personal debts and building a fake trust fund under your own name!" He stepped closer to her, ignoring the bat still clutched in her right hand.
"She means nothing to you or this estate!" Victoria shrieked, swinging the bat wildly in the air between them to keep him back. "That child was designated as the sole heir to your family's founding trust! Millions of dollars, Mark! If you knew she existed, you would have given everything to her and left me with nothing! I earned this life! I deserve this money! You think I was going to let some orphan take what belongs to me?"
Mark didn't hesitate for another second. When Victoria took a step toward the girls again, Mark lunged forward with explosive speed, grabbing the thick wooden bat mid-air with his bare hands. Victoria let out an angry screech, pulling back with all her weight, but Mark was far stronger. He ripped the weapon out of her grasp and tossed it heavy across the room, where it crashed against the stainless-steel refrigerator with a deafening bang before rolling uselessly into the corner.
Before Victoria could recover her balance, Mark grabbed her by the shoulders of her gold dress and violently shoved her backward away from the children. The sudden impact sent her stumbling out of control across the polished floor. She let out a sharp gasp of surprise as her lower back slammed hard against the sharp edge of the central marble kitchen island. The force of the shove knocked the wind out of her completely, causing her high heels to slip on the smooth tile.