Chapter 5
Julian didn't hesitate. He instructed his assistant to send Marcus Vance up immediately, his jaw set in a hard, uncompromising line. Chloe stood up, her instincts screaming at her to run, but Julian caught her hand, grounding her with a firm, steady grip.
"Stay right here behind me," Julian instructed quietly. "You have every right to be in this room."
Moments later, the office doors swung open. Marcus Vance strode into the room with the practiced confidence of a man accustomed to buying and selling human lives. He was in his late fifties, silver-haired, impeccably tailored in a charcoal suit, with a cold, calculating smile plastered across his face. But as his eyes drifted from Julian to the young woman standing beside him, the smile flickered and died.
"Julian. I was told you had a guest," Marcus said smoothly, though his eyes darted nervously toward Chloe. "And I see you’ve brought home a stray from last night’s gala. Eleanor was quite upset about the incident, you know."
"Cut the pleasantries, Marcus," Julian said, stepping forward. "You’re in my office. Drop the act."
Marcus feigned surprise, placing a manicured hand over his chest. "I’m simply checking in on my junior partner. We have a board meeting tomorrow, and—"
"I know about the Hopewell Foundation," Julian interrupted, his voice echoing off the mahogany walls. "I know about the dry seal on the adoption transfer papers from twenty years ago. And I know why you burned my family’s estate to the ground."
The color drained from Marcus’s face, though he quickly recovered his composure, hardening his gaze. He looked at Chloe, really looked at her, seeing the resemblance to the mother he had helped erase.
"You’re digging into things you don't understand, Julian," Marcus said, his voice losing its veneer of warmth, turning icy and transactional. "Your father was a visionary, yes, but he was reckless. He was steering the firm toward financial ruin. Some of us had to make hard choices to keep the company afloat. The fire was an accident—a faulty wire. The orphanage placement was a kindness. We could have put you both in the ground."
Chloe gasped, stepping out from behind Julian. "You monsters. You stole my entire life. You took my family, my home, everything!"
Marcus turned his cold eyes onto Chloe, sneering slightly. "And what did you expect to find, my dear? A fairy tale? You grew up fed, clothed, and educated. You should be thanking me instead of standing here playing boardroom politics with a brother who can’t even protect you from a simple charity gala."
Julian moved so fast Marcus didn't even have time to flinch. He grabbed Marcus by the lapels of his expensive suit, slamming him against the heavy mahogany bookshelf with enough force to rattle the glass doors.
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"If you ever speak to her like that again," Julian hissed, his face inches from Marcus’s, "I won’t just ruin your company. I’ll dismantle every brick of your life until there is nothing left to burn."
***
