Chapter 13 - Julian's Bargain
"Put the lighter down."
Julian smiled.
"No."
The flame moved beneath the corner of the brown envelope.
My father's handwriting was visible on the front.
My name.
I took one step toward him.
Julian lifted the flame.
"Don't."
I stopped.
Evelyn stood beside him, but she wasn't smiling.
"Julian, we don't need to do this."
He looked at her.
"Now you care?"
"We need the originals."
"We need her signature."
Arthur said, "You aren't getting either."
Julian laughed.
"Dad, you've lost control of the company, the accounts, and this house."
Arthur's face darkened.
"Temporarily."
"Maybe."
Julian turned to me.
"Here's what's going to happen."
"No."
"You haven't even heard it."
"I don't negotiate with men who spray chemicals into my eyes."
His smile faded.
"Then watch your father's papers burn."
He moved the lighter closer.
I forced myself not to react.
"What do you want?"
Evelyn exhaled.
Julian looked satisfied.
"You sign the authorization."
"Never."
"Then I burn these."
"Copies exist."
"Do they?"
That stopped me.
Arthur's safe had been partly emptied.
Peter had remote access.
Elena had only photographs.
I didn't know what originals remained.
Julian saw the doubt.
"You sign tonight. We file Monday morning."
"Why the rush?"
He glanced at his mother.
Evelyn's jaw tightened.
There.
A deadline.
I looked at Arthur.
He had seen it too.
"What's Monday?"
Nobody answered.
"Julian."
He shrugged.
"Financing closes."
Arthur went still.
"For what?"
Julian smiled.
"Riverside redevelopment."
Arthur swore.
"That financing was rejected."
"Not anymore."
"You don't have collateral."
Julian raised his eyebrows.
"Not yet."
Now I understood.
Sterling Point wasn't only control.
It was collateral.
They needed my authorization before Monday.
That was why the wedding had been this weekend.
That was why Julian had become violent tonight.
They were out of time.
I felt the first real shift of power since the attack.
"You need me."
Julian's smile disappeared.
"I need your signature."
"Which means you can't kill me."
Evelyn's eyes flashed.
"Don't be dramatic."
I looked at her.
"You told him to spray me again."
Mara whispered, "Sophia."
But I kept going.
"If I disappear before Monday, the filing gets questioned."
Julian said nothing.
"If I'm hospitalized, the filing gets delayed."
Nothing.
"If I publicly dispute the authorization, the lender freezes everything."
Evelyn finally spoke.
"You think anyone will believe you?"
"I have video."
Her face changed.
Julian looked at her.
That was confirmation.
They still didn't know exactly what I'd copied.
I pressed harder.
"And Elena's recording."
Julian's eyes narrowed.
"And the forged archive request."
Evelyn stepped toward me.
"Stop."
"And my father's letter."
She froze.
Julian turned sharply.
"What letter?"
There it was.
He didn't know.
Evelyn did.
She looked at me.
"What did it say?"
Julian snapped, "Mom?"
I stared at her.
"You've been in Arthur's safe before."
She didn't answer.
Arthur whispered, "Evelyn."
His voice changed.
Not angry.
Wounded.
"You knew William Sterling left something there."
Evelyn's silence was confession.
Julian lowered the lighter.
"What did she know?"
Arthur stepped forward.
"Evelyn?"
She finally looked at him.
"Your loyalty to William nearly destroyed this family."
"My loyalty?"
"You protected him after he backed out."
"From whom?"
Her face twisted.
"From everyone."
The answer hung there.
Julian's lighter went out.
I realized Evelyn was losing control.
Good.
I took another step.
"Who was 'everyone'?"
She laughed bitterly.
"You think Peter invented Northstar?"
Arthur said, "Stop."
"No. She wants truth."
Evelyn looked at me.
"Your father took money from people who don't forgive betrayal."
My chest tightened.
"Who?"
Before she answered, Julian grabbed her arm.
"Mom."
She ripped free.
"You wanted to play husband? Then hear what you married into."
Julian's face hardened.
Arthur moved closer.
"Evelyn, who funded Northstar?"
Her eyes went to him.
Then to me.
Then past us.
Toward the mansion.
"I wasn't the one who brought them in."
"Who was?"
A sound came from inside Arthur's study.
Glass breaking.
We all turned.
Someone else was still in the house.
Arthur ran first.
We followed.
By the time we reached the study, the portrait had been pulled from the wall.
The hidden safe stood open.
The black hard drive was gone.
And on Arthur's desk lay one thing that hadn't been there before.
My wedding photograph.
Across Julian's face, someone had drawn a black X.
Across mine, one word had been written.
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NEXT.
📖 Find out who entered Arthur's study while we were outside—and why the message on my wedding photograph frightened even Evelyn in CHAPTER 14. 👇
