Chapter 31 - THE SHADOW AT THE GATE
At three o'clock on a stormy August morning, violent thunder shook the high glass windows of the Manhattan mansion.
Rain lashed furiously against the mahogany walls as lightning illuminated the framed American flag in the grand hallway.
Inside his study, Julian woke up suddenly as an encrypted emergency satellite phone beeped on his desk.
The caller ID displayed an untraceable international signal originating from a private airfield in Zurich, Switzerland.
Julian answered the call, bringing the satellite phone to his ear with an immediate sense of rising alertness.
"Julian Vance... did you really think Catherine was the only child Arthur had before he married your mother?" a cold, raspy voice whispered over the line.
"Who is this?" Julian demanded, his dark eyes narrowing into slits of pure steel as he stood up from his desk.
"I am Arthur's firstborn son, Julian... and I just landed at JFK Airport with the original, unredacted 1995 family trust deed," the voice revealed.
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Directly outside the mansion's iron gates, a black sedan idling in the pouring rain flashed its headlights three times.
A tall figure in a dark trench coat stepped out into the storm, holding a heavy brass key stamped with the Vance family crest and a slender metal cane identical to Catherine's.
