---- Chapter 19 Arthur POV: The silence in the room was thick with fear. The servants exchanged nervous glances, their loyalty to Claudia warring with their terror of me. They knew her cruelty, but they were about to learn mine. "No one wants to talk?" | asked, my voice deceptively soft. | nodded to the head of my security team, a mountain of a man named Marcus. Marcus grabbed the youngest maid, the one who had been the first to accuse Jody, and dragged her, screaming, to the center of the room. Another guard stepped forward, a long, thin blade glinting in his hand. "Last chance," | said. The girl broke. "It was Ms. Sloan!" she shrieked, tears and snot streaming down her face. "She made us lie! She said if we didn' t, she' d... she' d sell us! Please, Mr. Lowery, please don't hurt me!" The truth, ugly and predictable, hung in the air. | looked at the cowering staff, my face a mask of cold fury. "Get them out of my sight," | ordered Marcus. "And make sure they are never heard from again." ---- As they were dragged away, | sank into a chair, the adrenaline leaving me weak and hollow. It was all true. Every nightmare | had imagined was real. Jody had been utterly alone, surrounded by enemies, and |, her supposed protector, had been the worst of them all. | walked upstairs. Claudia was in the living room, lounging on the sofa, filing her nails. She looked up as | entered, a bright, welcoming smile on her face. "Arthur! You' re home early," she chirped. | didn' t say a word. | just watched her as Marcus and two other guards entered the room and surrounded her. Her smile faltered. "Arthur? What is this?" | walked over to the coffee table and threw the file down. The photos and papers scattered across the polished wood. "Explain this," | said, my voice a low growl. She saw the photos, the lab reports. The color drained from her face. She scrambled to gather the papers, her hands shaking. "It' s not what it looks like! Jody... Jody set me up! She' s trying to poison you against me!" "Enough!" | roared, the sound echoing through the room. "Your lies are over, Claudia." Her face crumpled. She started to cry, the same pathetic, manipulative tears that had always worked on me before. But now, they just filled me with revulsion. ---- "Take her away," | said to Marcus. "No!" she screamed, lunging towards me. "Arthur, please! You can' t do this to me! | love you! The baby... the baby is yours!"