Serena immediately released Julian’s hand and moved away from him.
From the main driveway outside, the rumble of heavy police cruisers arriving echoed across the courtyard.
Brenda turned pale as paper.
But Edward had more to reveal.
“And now, let’s discover who supplied us with the falsified invoices, concealed banking records, and audio recordings,” Edward continued.
A side entrance to the parlor swung open.
Walking into the room was Teresa, the estate’s chief housekeeper. She had known Lucy since childhood and had originally accepted the position at the mansion believing Lucy would eventually move there.
Julian stared at her with absolute fury. “You backstabbing traitor!”
“I witnessed enough, Julian,” Teresa replied firmly. “I watched you charge private celebrations as corporate expenses. I watched your mother submit false invoices for furniture, clothing, and vacations. And I discovered that Serena was taking money from a charitable foundation for pediatric illness to cover her cosmetic procedures.”
Serena gasped and attempted to move toward the rear exit, but two plainclothes detectives entered the hallway, blocking her escape.
Teresa walked toward Edward’s legal team on the screen, placing down a hard drive filled with backed-up messages, wire records, and video files.
Included among the files was an audio recording in which Brenda could be heard clearly instructing Julian how to falsify Lucy’s signature on loan applications.
“Keep her isolated in that dump,” Brenda’s voice rang unmistakably through the parlor speakers. “The more des.per.ate she becomes, the easier it’ll be to get her to sign whatever we need. And don’t waste money sending anything for the kid—he’ll only get accustomed to a lifestyle he doesn’t deserve.”
Brenda opened her mouth, yet nothing came out. She couldn’t deny the sound of her own voice.
Lucy stared at her husband, her heart now completely cold. “You didn’t only want my inheritance. You wanted me to think my grandfather had abandoned me.”
Julian moved desperately toward her. “Lucy, please… we can fix this! I’ll return to the house! I’ll give you half of everything I own!”
“You can’t return something that never belonged to you, Julian.”
“Do it for Ethan!” he begged.
Lucy glanced down at her son, who was sheltering behind Teresa’s apron.
“It is exactly because of Ethan that I will never allow you near us again.”
Serena snatched her designer handbag and attempted to rush around the officers, but an investigator stopped her.
When they searched her bag, they discovered two passports, thousands of dollars in foreign currency, and one-way airline tickets to Panama scheduled for that evening.
“I knew nothing!” Serena lied desperately. “Julian told me he was already divorced!”
Teresa pressed a button on her tablet, displaying a saved text conversation across the parlor screen.
Weeks earlier, Serena had messaged Julian: Once your clueless wife signs the last deed transfer, we sell the estate and leave the country before the old man figures it out.
Watching her son placed in handcuffs, Brenda sank to her knees before Lucy, sobbing uncontrollably. “Lucy, please! Think about the family! Julian is Ethan’s father! If he goes to prison, Ethan will carry that stigma forever!”
Lucy drew a long, controlled breath.
“Ethan was already carrying that stigma whenever he wondered why his father never came home. Whenever he fell asleep hungry while the three of you drank champagne inside a mansion. Whenever you call us freeloaders.”
The police officers handcuffed Julian. Before they escorted him away, he glanced back toward his son one final time. “Come to Daddy, buddy…”
Ethan pressed his face farther into his mother’s dress. “You never came when I waited for you.”
That one sentence broke Julian’s composure far more deeply than the steel cuffs wrapped around his wrists. He lowered his head and became completely silent.
