Chapter 10 - The Attorney’s Secret
The town car glided smoothly through the twilight streets of the city, taking an erratic route through industrial tunnels and back alleys to throw off any digital trackers. Daniel stared out the window, watching the neon signs blur into streaks of color against the darkening sky.
"Talk to me, Arthur," Daniel demanded, breaking the long silence. "How long have you known that Julian is still alive?"
Arthur kept his eyes fixed straight ahead, his hands folded neatly over the polished silver handle of his walking cane. "Since the day of the funeral, Daniel. I didn't see him step into the casket, because there was no body in it. The Swiss authorities recovered a backpack and a torn jacket, but no remains."
Daniel turned sharply in his seat, the betrayal stinging anew. "You lied to me? You let me mourn a brother who was actively plotting my financial execution?"
"I protected you," Arthur retorted, his voice rising with a rare flash of anger. "If you had known Julian was alive and running from international fraud charges, the SEC would have frozen all corporate assets immediately. Your entire company would have dissolved overnight, taking thousands of innocent employees down with it."
Daniel shook his head in bitter disbelief. "And what about Elena? Did you help set up that sham wedding too?"
"Good lord, no," Arthur sighed, rubbing his temples with a trembling hand. "Elena was Julian’s hire, yes—a professional grifter he met during his years hiding in Eastern Europe. But bringing her into your inner circle, staging that elaborate romance, and worming her way into your daughter’s life... that was Julian’s personal touch of cruelty."
"Cruelty," Daniel repeated, the word tasting like ash in his mouth. "Why? What does he actually want? Is it the money?"
"It’s never just about the money with Julian," Arthur said gravely. "It’s about control. He wants the patent portfolio for your next-generation quantum encryption software. With those patents, he can secure controlling shares in every major defense contractor in the country."
The car came to a smooth halt in front of an unassuming brick warehouse down by the old harbor docks. The iron gates slowly swung open automatically as the vehicle approached.
"Where are we?" Daniel asked, reaching for the door handle.
May you like
"Where it all began," Arthur answered quietly. "The original warehouse where you and Julian built your very first circuit boards twenty years ago. And based on the signal ping our private security just picked up... someone is waiting inside for you."
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