Chapter 5: The Ultimatum
The tension in the study grew so thick it felt difficult to draw breath. Victoria stopped pacing and leaned against the edge of Julian’s oak desk, her hands trembling as she tried to regain control of the narrative. Her blonde updo was completely ruined now, loose strands of hair framing her dirt-streaked face like the wild mane of a cornered animal. She looked down at Julian, her eyes wide with a desperate, frantic pleading that contrasted sharply with her earlier aggression.
"If you annul this marriage, Julian, my family will destroy yours," Victoria said, her voice dropping to a low, venomous threat. "The Vance logistics network controls half the shipping lines on the East Coast. Without our partnership, Sterling Enterprises will bleed out within six months. You know it, and I know it."
Julian leaned back in his leather chair, interlocking his fingers over his stomach. He looked at Victoria not with anger, but with a profound, weary disappointment. "You always overestimate your leverage, Victoria. Your father is a pragmatist. When he sees the photographs of what you did to Clara in that dressing room—photographs that my security team backed up to an off-site server ten minutes ago—he won't help you wage a corporate war. He will cut you loose to protect his own reputation."
Victoria staggered back as if she had been physically struck. "You... you recorded it?"
"I protect my assets," Julian replied coldly. "And Clara is a guest under my protection. Assaulting her in my home is a bridge too far, even for a Sterling-Vance alliance."
Leo buried his face in his hands, letting out a ragged sigh. "Just end it," he mumbled through his fingers. "I don't care about the logistics network. I don't care about the stock prices. I want an annulment. I should have never walked down that aisle."
Victoria whipped her head around to glare at her new husband, her face twisting into an ugly mask of fury. "You coward! You think you can just walk away? You signed the registry, Leo! You are tied to me legally, financially, and socially until the day you die!"
May you like
"Not if the marriage was entered under duress," Clara interjected smoothly, walking away from the window and stepping into the warm light of the desk lamp. "I recorded your threats in the hallway yesterday morning, Victoria. The ones where you promised to ruin Leo’s career and release his family's medical records if he tried to back out at the altar. Combined with the assault charges, you don't have a leg to stand on."
Victoria stared at Clara, her mouth slightly open in sheer disbelief. The trap had closed, and she was trapped squarely in the center.
