Chapter 10
Marcus stared at Julian in sheer disbelief, the panic in his eyes momentarily giving way to a flash of familiar, bitter anger. "Are you out of your mind? I’m your brother! We share the same blood! You’re just going to stand there and watch me sink?"
"You didn't treat me like a brother, Marcus," Julian replied, his voice remaining terrifyingly calm. "You treated me like a resource to be harvested. You and Mother built a lifestyle on embezzlement and deception, and now the bill has come due."
Marcus tried to push past Julian into the foyer, his desperation overriding his caution, but Julian didn't flinch. He planted his shoulder firmly against the doorframe, blocking the threshold with immovable strength.
"Get your hands off me, you selfish bastard!" Marcus snarled, raising a fist as if he might actually strike his older brother.
Before Julian could react, Elena stepped up beside him in the doorway. She didn't shout or threaten; she simply lifted her phone, her camera lens pointed directly at Marcus’s face.
"The security cameras in this building record audio and video directly to an off-site cloud server," Elena said clearly, her voice cutting through the hallway air like glass. "Furthermore, the federal protective injunction issued by the court explicitly prohibits Marcus Vance from approaching within five hundred feet of this residence or contacting Julian Vance directly. If you take one step further into this apartment, Marcus, I will press the button that alerts the federal marshal assigned to your case."
Marcus froze, his raised fist trembling in mid-air. He looked from Elena’s cold, unwavering eyes back to Julian’s stolid expression. The realization that he had lost all leverage finally penetrated his ruined ego. There were no more soft-hearted appeals to family loyalty that would work here.
"You're both dead to me," Marcus spat out, his voice shaking with impotent rage as he stepped backward down the hallway toward the elevators. "I hope you rot in this empty cage!"
"Have a safe trip, Marcus," Julian said quietly.
With a smooth, deliberate motion, Julian closed the heavy oak door and engaged the deadbolt. The sharp metallic click echoed in the quiet foyer—a sound of absolute finality.
Julian let out a long, slow breath, leaning his forehead against the wooden door for a brief moment before turning to look at Elena. She lowered her phone, a soft, approving smile touching the corners of her mouth.
May you like
"Well handled," she said simply.
Julian walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close, resting his cheek against her dark hair. For the first time in his life, he felt entirely safe in his own home. The war with his past was officially over, and the real life he had always deserved was finally beginning to unfold around them.
