Chapter 17 - THE VANCE BLOODLINE
"Cousin?" Julian gasped, looking between the phone and Emily. "Emily, what is she talking about?"
Emily slowly lowered her head, taking a deep, shuddering breath before looking Julian in the eye.
"My real name is Evelyn Vance," she confessed, her voice shaking slightly. "My father was your uncle... Marcus Vance Senior."
"The uncle who was disowned twenty years ago?" Julian asked, his mind spinning with confusion.
"He wasn't disowned, Julian! He was framed by Arthur Sterling and Victoria's family!" Emily revealed, tears welling in her eyes. "They stole his shares and erased my branch of the family from the estate records!"
"So you came here as a maid to get revenge?" Julian asked, feeling a cold knot form in his stomach.
"I came to uncover the truth and protect the only family I had left—you," she pleaded, reaching across the table to touch his arm. "I never wanted to hurt you, Julian."
"How touching," Victoria's voice cut through the phone speaker again. "A family reunion."
"What do you want, Victoria?" Julian barked into the phone.
"I have something that belonged to your father, Julian," Victoria sneered. "A second will... signed two days before his death."
"That's impossible," Julian said.
May you like
"Is it?" Victoria chuckled darkly. "Meet me in Paris by midnight tomorrow, or the entire world learns about the secret Vance bloodline."
The line went dead, leaving a suffocating silence in the sunlit dining room.
