Chapter 2
Julian rose from the marble floor with terrifying speed, his tall frame cutting a rigid silhouette against the fading afternoon light pouring through the tall arched windows. The armed guards in black suits shifted in unison, their hands resting near their holsters as they awaited a command that they knew would change everything. The mention of Ethan had stripped the warmth from the room in a single second, replacing it with a suffocating paranoia that Julian had spent millions of dollars and five long years keeping at bay.
Elena pulled Maya tighter against her light blue dress, trying to soothe the girl's erratic breathing, but her own eyes darted nervously toward the western corridor. That wing of the estate was supposed to be completely sealed, accessible only by a biometric scanner that required both Julian’s master code and a physical key card. Yet, Maya had seen someone. Someone who knew the child's routine, someone who had bypassed the security grid without triggering a single silent alarm on the main console.
"Check the perimeter logs," Julian ordered without turning around, his voice low, steady, and chillingly authoritative. The lead guard nodded once, speaking into his encrypted wrist comm before jogging silently toward the security hub.
Julian crouched back down beside his daughter, ignoring the sticky mess of the ruined cake entirely now. He placed a large, tattooed hand gently on Maya’s small shoulder, modulating his tone to soften the razor-sharp edge of his anger. He needed details, not panic.
"Maya, look at me," Julian said softly, waiting until the little girl's tear-filled eyes locked onto his. "Did you see his face clearly, or was it just a shadow in the hallway?"
Maya sniffled, wiping her nose with the back of her small hand, leaving a smear of pink frosting across her cheek. She pointed again toward the darkened corridor, where the ornate French doors stood slightly ajar.
"It was Ethan," Maya whimpered, her lower lip trembling violently. "He was wearing dark clothes, not a suit like the guards. And he had something shiny in his pocket."
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Elena gasped softly, her hand flying to cover her mouth as the color drained completely from her face. Julian’s jaw locked tighter, a vein throbbing dangerously at his temple. Ethan had been locked away in a high-security psychiatric facility three counties over following the incident on the dock. There was zero physical possibility that he was roaming the halls of the Vance estate.
Unless someone inside the inner circle had let him in through the front gate.
