Chapter 1: The First Blow and the Cold Enabler
The sprawling estate in the exclusive suburbs of Connecticut was designed to look like a sanctuary of timeless American luxury. High ceilings, immaculate crown moldings, and towering glass windows framed miles of manicured emerald gardens that seemed to stretch out into an endless horizon of wealth and privilege. But inside the walls of this architectural masterpiece, luxury was merely a decorative facade masking a brutal, suffocating prison.