Chapter 10
The flickering flame in Ethan’s hand illuminated the dripping concrete walls of the subterranean tunnel, casting long, distorted shadows that danced around Julian’s boots. Ethan wore a dark, oil-stained mechanic’s jumpsuit, a stark contrast to the immaculate white shirt Julian wore upstairs. A jagged scar ran from the corner of Ethan’s left jawline all the way down into his collar, a permanent souvenir of the dock incident that had started this entire nightmare five years ago.
"You're a hard man to surprise, Julian," Ethan rasped, his voice sounding like dry leaves scraping across pavement. He casually dropped the burning match into the shallow water at his feet, plunging them back into semi-darkness, save for the weak amber emergency light overhead. "Though I have to admit, keeping your second-born locked away in a gilded cage while Maya plays princess upstairs takes a special kind of cruelty."
Julian kept the heavy-caliber pistol leveled squarely at the center of Ethan's chest. His finger rested lightly on the trigger, the tension in his tattooed forearm trembling with the sheer effort of restraint. He wanted nothing more than to end this right here in the dark, away from Elena and the children.
"How did you get out of the asylum, Ethan?" Julian asked, his voice deadly calm. "And more importantly, how did you convince my brother to help you before he supposedly died in Zurich?"
Ethan smiled, showing teeth stained with tobacco and age. He took a slow step forward, completely ignoring the firearm pointed at his heart. "David didn't die in Zurich, Julian. That was the beauty of the plan your brilliant little brother engineered. He needed a ghost to protect his stolen assets from your corporate empire, so he traded places with a corpse from the Zurich morgue. And who better to help him secure his freedom than the man you framed for his dirty work?"
Julian’s jaw tightened until a muscle popped near his ear. The realization hit him with the force of a physical blow. David was alive. His brother had faked his own death, manipulated the security logs, and used Ethan as a pawn to tear the Vance family apart from the inside out.
"Where is he?" Julian demanded, taking a heavy step forward, closing the distance between them.
May you like
Ethan laughed, a harsh, grating sound that bounced off the stone walls. He raised his hands slowly, pointing a dirt-stained finger not at Julian, but directly behind him toward the open vault door where Elena and Lily were standing.
"He's already upstairs, Julian," Ethan whispered maliciously. "And he's holding a very sharp knife to Maya's throat."
