Chapter 5: The Phantom of the Past
While Julian and Clara began to breach the wall between them, the shadow of Marcus still loomed over the city. Marcus had lost his position at the firm after Julian exposed his fraudulent dealings, but his resentment had only grown deeper in the isolation of his disgraced exit.
In a dimly lit apartment across the harbor, Marcus scrolled through recent security feeds from Julian’s building. He had paid an insider on the building’s maintenance staff to keep access to the surveillance network, tracking Julian’s movements in hopes of finding a vulnerability to exploit.
When Marcus saw the footage of Clara entering the building holding a toddler, a cold smile spread across his face. He recognized Clara immediately.
"So, the martyr had a family all along," Marcus muttered to himself, zooming in on the baby's face. "And he didn't even know."
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Marcus understood that Julian’s greatest weakness had never been his financial portfolio or his reputation; it was his heart. By revealing the child's existence at the right moment, or by creating a situation where Julian’s new family felt threatened, Marcus saw a chance to force Julian into relinquishing his remaining voting shares in the firm.
Unaware of the eyes watching them from afar, Julian spent the rest of the evening sitting on the floor, watching Leo fall asleep in Clara’s arms as the rain began to patter against the high glass windows.
