Chapter 7 - The Shadow Heir
The name on the wire transfer authorization wasn't Marcus. It wasn't Victoria. It was a name Elena hadn't heard spoken aloud since the day she met Marcus at a quiet gallery downtown two years ago.
Julian Vance.
"Julian?" Elena whispered, the name tasting like ash on her tongue. "That’s impossible. Marcus told me his older brother Julian died in a climbing accident in the Alps five years ago. There was a massive funeral, a closed casket, mourning wreaths, everything!"
Attorney Miller leaned back in his metal chair, folding his arms across his chest. "There was a funeral, yes. But no body was ever recovered. And more importantly, Julian Vance was legally disowned by Victoria three months before his supposed 'accident' after he tried to sell a controlling stake of Vance Biotech to a foreign competitor."
Elena shook her head frantically, pacing the cramped confines of the holding cell. "What does Julian have to do with my wedding? Why would a dead man—or a man pretending to be dead—pay for a million-dollar reception just to have it crashed and ruined sixty seconds in?"
"Because it wasn't a wedding celebration, Mrs. Vance," Miller said grimly. "It was a trap. Not just for you, and not just for Marcus. It was a trap designed to draw Julian out of hiding."
Elena stopped pacing, staring at her lawyer with wide, disbelieving eyes. "You're saying Julian is alive? And Victoria knew it?"
"Victoria has known every move her grandsons have made since they were old enough to hold a stock certificate," Miller stated matter-of-factly. "Marcus was just a pawn. He thought he was stealing the company out from under his grandmother, but he was actually being guided by someone whispering in his ear for months. Someone who wanted to destroy the Vance empire from the inside out."
"Julian," Elena breathed, the pieces of the puzzle finally snapping together in a terrifying picture. The late-night phone calls Marcus used to take in hushed whispers, the secret laptop he kept locked in his home office, the sudden urgency to get married at the courthouse this morning.
"If Julian is alive and orchestrating this," Elena said, her voice dropping to a trembling whisper, "then where is he now?"
Miller closed the manila folder with a sharp snap. "According to the U.S. Marshals who raided the St. Regis penthouse after you were taken, the penthouse security cameras didn't capture Marcus escaping alone. Someone was waiting for him on the roof helipad."
Elena felt a cold shiver run down her spine. "Who?"
Before Miller could answer, the heavy steel door of the holding cell swung open abruptly. A guard stood in the doorway, his face pale and urgent.
"Miller, pack up your files," the guard ordered sharply. "Orders from the top. The federal charges against Mrs. Vance have been dropped. She’s being released immediately."
Miller raised an eyebrow, looking just as confused as Elena. "Dropped? By whose authority?"
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The guard stepped aside, revealing a tall, impeccably dressed man standing in the hallway behind him, holding a sleek black umbrella and wearing a cold, familiar smirk.
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