Chapter 5
Eleanor shifted baby Ethan carefully, sliding him into the arms of a nanny who had quietly appeared from the hallway, summoned by a subtle gesture from Victor. Once the infant was safely carried away upstairs, the atmosphere in the vast living room became even more isolated. Eleanor smoothed the fabric of her dark red dress, her hands visibly shaking as she finally met her husband's unwavering gaze.
“Someone was here before you came home, Victor,” Eleanor began, her voice dropping to a nervous whisper. “Someone we thought was entirely out of our lives for good.”
Victor didn’t blink. His muscular frame tensed instantly, the tattoos on his neck shifting with the movement of his skin. “Who?”
“Julian,” Eleanor breathed the name as if it were a curse.
The name hung in the air like poison. Victor’s jaw tightened so hard a muscle twitched in his cheek. Julian Vance—Eleanor’s former business partner and ex-fiancé, a man who had tried to ruin Victor’s real estate acquisitions five years ago before disappearing under a cloud of financial fraud and legal threats. Victor had used every ounce of his power and influence to wipe Julian from their lives, securing restraining orders and heavy security protocols for the estate.
“How?” Victor demanded, his voice dropping into a dangerous register. “How did he get past the security gates? The biometric scanners? The guards at the perimeter?”
“He didn't break in through the gates,” Eleanor said, her eyes welling with genuine tears of fear. “He has a key, Victor. He kept a duplicate from years ago before we changed the locks. He walked right through the French doors in the back sitting room while I was alone with Ethan.”
Victor’s fists clenched at his sides, the gold watch biting into his skin. The thought of another man—specifically that man—stepping foot inside his home, near his wife and infant son, triggered a primal fury that overshadowed everything else. The accusation Clara had made earlier suddenly took on a horrifying new context.
“And what did he want?” Victor asked, stepping closer to his wife until he towered over her. “Did he threaten you? Is that why Clara found you struggling with the baby?”
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“He said we owe him,” Eleanor sobbed quietly, pressing her hands to her face. “He said my father’s old offshore accounts still hold documents linking our company to his illegal shell corporations. He threatened to hand them over to the federal authorities and ruin everything we’ve built unless I paid him a million dollars in cash by tomorrow morning.”
Victor stared at his wife, his mind racing through the logistical nightmare of Julian’s return. But a cold, nagging doubt lingered in the back of his mind. If Julian was here, why hadn't the perimeter alarms tripped? Why did Clara claim she saw Eleanor trying to harm the baby instead of seeing an intruder?
