Chapter 5 - The Stepmother's Betrayal
Vera stood perfectly still in the pale moonlight, her silver revolver gleaming dangerously in the darkness.
She looked entirely unbothered by the freezing temperature, wrapped tightly in an expensive fur coat funded by my mother's money.
“Vera, please! You don't have to do this,” Emma cried out, clinging tightly to my arm.
Vera’s expression did not soften even a fraction of an inch at the sound of the little girl's terrified voice.
“I don't have to, Emma, but I want to,” Vera sneered coldly.
She explained that Richard was a cowardly fool who originally planned to poison the children quietly in their sleep.
Vera was the one who suggested leaving them in the freezing taiga to make it look like a tragic, undeniable exposure accident, exactly like their mother.
Elias slowly raised his hunting rifle, but Vera immediately shifted her aim from Daniel to Emma.
“Drop the rifle, Ranger, or the little girl dies right now,” Vera commanded sharply.
Elias hesitated, his jaw clenched in absolute fury, before slowly placing the rifle on the cold stone floor.
Vera smiled triumphantly and ordered Elias to kick the weapon across the cavern.
“Richard is waiting for my signal. I kill you all, light a flare, and we split the trust fund fifty-fifty,” Vera bragged confidently.
She raised the revolver higher, her finger tightening deliberately on the trigger.
Suddenly, a loud, mechanical grinding noise echoed from the darkness of the mine shaft behind Vera.
A massive, rusted mining cart, completely dislodged from its old iron tracks, came hurtling out of the shadows.
It slammed violently into Vera’s side, throwing her against the jagged stone wall with a sickening crunch.
The silver revolver flew from her hand and clattered uselessly into the darkness.
Vera collapsed to the floor, groaning in agony and clutching her broken ribs.
Daniel looked past the wrecked mining cart into the dark tunnel, expecting to see more of Richard's mercenaries.
Instead, a tall woman in heavily worn winter gear stepped out of the shadows.
She pulled the thick scarf down from her face, revealing a distinct scar across her cheek.
Emma gasped loudly and fell to her knees in absolute shock.
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The woman standing in front of them was Elena.
Their mother was still alive.
