Chapter 20
The Hudson Valley breeze blew softly through the open office window, rustling the sheer white curtains.
Julian stood motionless by his desk, looking down at the silver letter opener glistening in the morning light.
Down on the lawn, Clara looked up at the second-story office window, sensing his sudden silence and waving happily.
Julian forced a warm, loving smile onto his face, waving back at her and his infant nephew.
Inside his mind, however, a storm of strategic calculations was already raging with relentless speed.
Victoria Vance possessed resources, intelligence, and a dark lineage that made Eleanor look like an amateur amateur.
She had operated in total secrecy for a decade, manipulating events from across the Atlantic without leaving a single trace.
Marcus's voice cut through the phone speaker, breaking Julian's intense train of thought.
"Julian? What's going on? Is there a problem with the federal prosecutors?" Marcus asked anxiously.
Julian took a deep, steadying breath, his dark eyes locking onto the framed American flag painting on the wall.
"The federal prosecutors won't be able to help us with this one, Marcus," Julian answered, his tone ice-cold.
"Send an intelligence team to London immediately."
"I want to know every breath Victoria Vance takes before she boards a plane to America."
"And Marcus... tell no one about this. Especially not Clara."
Julian hung up the phone, looking out at his family playing in the bright American sunshine.
He knew that the quiet peace in the valley was merely the calm before an impending, catastrophic storm.
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He held the pearl earring tight in his palm, his knuckles turning white as he prepared for the war ahead.
The battle for the estate was over, but the war for their very survival had just begun.
