Chapter 7: Shadows at the Window**
A month passed in idyllic tranquility. Julian enrolled Liam and Mia in the local seaside elementary school under his legal guardianship. Every afternoon, he walked them home along the coastal cliff path, stopping for ice cream and listening to stories about Liam’s math tests and Mia’s finger paintings.
At night, after the children were asleep, Julian worked tirelessly on his new freight logistics startup. He secured seed funding from old university colleagues who respected his integrity far more than his family's corporate brand.
However, the shadows of his past were not so easily dispelled.
On a rainy Tuesday evening, while Liam was finishing his homework at the kitchen table, Julian noticed a dark SUV idling near the end of the long private driveway. Its headlights were switched off, its engine running silently in the mist.
Julian quietly pulled down the kitchen blinds. "Liam, take your sister upstairs to the reading nook, okay? Daddy needs to make a phone call."
Liam's eyes widened with immediate vigilance. "Is it them?"
"Everything is fine, sport. Just go read to Mia."
Julian waited until the sound of little footsteps faded upstairs before walking out to the front porch, pulling on a raincoat. He didn't hide; he walked directly down the gravel driveway, his flashlight beam cutting straight through the tinted windshield of the SUV.
The driver’s side window rolled down halfway. Inside sat Marcus Kane, the Sterling family’s chief head of private security.
"You're trespassing on private property, Marcus," Julian said evenly.
May you like
Marcus offered a cold, professional grimace. "Just a welfare check, Mr. Vance. Miss Sterling wants you to know that the paternity lawsuit has been officially filed. Tomorrow morning, child protective services and court-ordered bailiffs will be arriving at this house to execute a mandatory DNA verification and temporary protective custody order."
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