Chapter 10
The security guard held Julian firmly in place, his grip like a vice around Julian’s upper arms. Julian strained against the hold, his dark eyes locked onto Arthur with an intensity that made the older man take an involuntary half-step back.
“Let him go!” Martha demanded, her voice cracking with fierce maternal authority. She tried to wheel herself forward, but Victoria stepped directly into her path, placing a hand on the back of the metal wheelchair and locking the wheels in place with a sharp click of her black high heel.
“Sit quietly, Martha,” Victoria said, her voice devoid of any warmth. “The adults are handling the transition of power. You’ve had your decades at the helm; it’s time to accept that empires fall to those willing to do what is necessary to claim them.”
Julian glared at Victoria, his voice strained from the physical effort of resisting the guard. “You think money and forged papers make you invincible? My father destroyed men like you decades ago, and I will finish what he started, even if it takes every last cent of the estate to do it.”
Arthur laughed—a dry, raspy sound that echoed uncomfortably against the high ceiling of the foyer. “Your father didn’t destroy me, Julian. He buried me alive with a severance package and a gag order, hoping I would rot in obscurity while he played the benevolent patriarch. But secrets have a half-life, and yours has finally expired.”
Arthur walked over to Martha’s wheelchair, holding out the leather-bound documents and the sleek pen once more. “Sign the release, Martha. Save your son from a very unpleasant night in the estate’s lower holding cells, and perhaps we can arrange for you to spend your remaining years in a comfortable, quiet facility rather than a cold courtroom.”
Martha looked from Arthur’s cruel smile to Julian’s strained, protective face. A heavy, agonizing silence settled over the foyer. The tension was palpable, thick enough to suffocate everyone in the room. For a brief second, Martha’s shoulders slumped, the weight of her years and the sheer exhaustion of the night threatening to break her legendary resilience.
Julian shook his head frantically, catching his mother’s gaze. “Don’t do it, Mother! Don’t give them an inch!”
Martha took a deep, shuddering breath. Her spine straightened, and the fierce, unbreakable spirit that had kept the family standing through decades of corporate storms suddenly returned to her eyes. She looked up at Arthur with absolute contempt.
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“I would rather see this house burn to the ash heap your master tried to escape from than hand over a single page to a coward like you,” Martha said clearly and steadily.
Arthur’s smile vanished instantly, replaced by a dark, dangerous scowl. “Then so be it.”
