Chapter 13 - The Envelope Reveals The Secret Of Julian’s Father's Death
The document was a sworn, notarized affidavit written by Julian’s late father, Thomas Sterling, six days before his fatal car crash in 2018.
It detailed a massive, illegal political bribery ring operated by Senator Arthur Vance, Victoria’s father, involving federal shipping routes.
Thomas Sterling had discovered that Senator Vance was using Sterling Logistics ships to traffic illegal unregistered cargo across international borders.
When Thomas refused to participate in the scheme, Senator Vance explicitly threatened the lives of Thomas’s wife, Eleanor, and his son, Julian.
“If anything happens to me under suspicious circumstances,” Thomas wrote, “know that Senator Vance orchestrated it to gain control of our firm.”
“He intends to force a marriage between his daughter, Victoria, and my son, Julian, to merge our shipping assets with his dummy corporations.”
Julian sat frozen in the driver's seat, his heart pounding against his ribs like a sledgehammer as the horrifying truth settled in his mind.
His entire marriage, his four years of devotion to Victoria, and his father’s tragic death had all been part of a cold, calculated murder plan.
Victoria hadn't fallen in love with him at that charity gala in Manhattan four years ago; she had been assigned to infiltrate his life.
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“Julian...?” Eleanor whispered softly from the back seat, reaching forward to touch her son’s shoulder with deep, maternal comfort.
“Your father wanted to protect you, Julian. He knew if Vance found out about that affidavit, they would kill you too.”
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