“Once the last documents are signed,” Brenda was saying with a satisfied grin, “we sell two of the trust’s commercial properties and pay off the mortgage on the honeymoon villa. By the time that old man discovers what happened, it’ll already be far too late.”
Serena smiled while adjusting her silk robe. “And what about Lucy?”
“That girl signs anything we place in front of her,” Brenda scoffed. “Julian convinced her they were ordinary tax documents and medical waivers. Besides, she lives so deep in those industrial slums that nobody would ever believe her anyway.”
Lucy emerged from behind an enormous marble column.
“Were you planning to deceive Ethan into signing his future away when he grew up, too?”
All three of them went still.
Ethan pulled free from his mother’s hand and rushed toward his father. “Daddy! Is this our new house?”
Julian recoiled, taking a quick step backward. He didn’t embrace his son. He couldn’t even see the little boy’s eyes.
Brenda responded with instant contempt, sneering at Lucy’s simple clothes. “Look at what you’re wearing. You’re bringing dirt onto the marble before the guests even arrive.”
Serena touched the sapphire necklace around her throat, her expression icy and dismissive. “Since you’ve forced your way inside, let’s make one thing perfectly clear: Julian is with me now. This house belongs to us. You were only a temporary chapter; he never figured out how to end.”
Lucy stared straight at the gemstone resting against Serena’s chest. “That necklace belonged to my mother.”
“Well, now it belongs to somebody who actually belongs in this world,” Serena fired back.
Julian a.ban.don.ed his timid performance completely.
He admitted he had never gone anywhere near an automobile plant in his life.
For two years, he had been exploiting a low-level administrative role at one of Edward’s subsidiary businesses, using falsified limited power-of-attorney documents to redirect funds into offshore accounts.
The extravagant dinners, designer clothing, overseas vacations, and today’s wedding had all been financed through assets intended to protect Lucy and Ethan’s future.
“You decided to live under those conditions, Lucy,” Julian sneered. “I never made you stay there.”
“You concealed my legal documents!” Lucy’s voice shook with burning fury. “You prevented me from accessing my own bank accounts! You threatened to take my son if I ever reached out to my grandfather!”
“That’s your story against mine,” Julian smirked.
Lucy lifted her smartphone.
“No. It’s your own voice captured on live audio.”
She had placed her phone on speaker, broadcasting the entire conversation.
Julian rushed forward to seize the device. Brenda pushed Lucy’s shoulder, while Serena accidentally knocked a wine glass from the table, sending it shattering across the floor.
“Security! Get this insane woman out of here!” Julian yelled.
No security guards appeared.
Instead, the automatic window blinds around the parlor slowly began descending. The massive iron entrance gates clicked shut, and the large television screens mounted throughout the room suddenly flickered to life.
On those screens appeared Edward Vance, seated inside a luxurious office beside two senior corporate lawyers and a lead investigator from the District Attorney’s Office.
“Thank you, Julian,” Edward’s voice rang sharply through the room’s speaker system. “You just verified every detail of the fraud investigation we’ve been conducting for the past six months.”
Julian hurried toward the screen, pointing angrily. “I have power of attorney! You can’t take anything away from me!”
Edward lifted a document bearing a state court stamp.
“That power of attorney was formally revoked seven months ago, Julian.
Since then, every single transfer you made has been flagged as unauthorized grand larceny.
This property never belonged to you.
It belongs completely to the irrevocable trust created for Lucy and Ethan.”
