Chapter 5: The Heirloom's Curse**
The room seemed to tilt beneath Clara’s feet. "The firstborn child?"
"My father never trusted Richard," Marcus explained, his eyes darting toward the locked library doors as heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway outside. "Richard was running our shipping division into bankruptcy with illegal offshore gambling debts. Dad knew Julian was the only one with integrity. But Dad also knew Julian was too gentle to fight his older brother directly. So, Dad put the entire trust into a generational clause."
Clara touched her stomach. "This baby... is the sole heir?"
"Exactly," Marcus nodded. "If you are convicted of grand larceny—stealing a museum-grade family heirloom worth millions—Eleanor and Richard can file for emergency legal guardianship of the child on the grounds of maternal unfitness the second you give birth in prison. They take the baby, they take the trust, and Richard covers his debts."
A cold shudder ran down Clara’s spine. The cruelty of the plan was breathtaking. They didn't just want to humiliate her; they wanted to steal her child and erase her existence entirely.
"We have to move," Marcus urged, unlatching the terrace gate. "The sheriff they called is Sheriff Bradley—he's on Eleanor’s payroll. If he cuffs you on these grounds, you won't get bail."
Clara looked at the balcony ledge. Below lay the stone terrace and the dark, sprawling maze of the rose garden. "I can't jump, Marcus. The baby."
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"You won't have to," a calm, weathered voice called out from the darkness of the garden below.
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