Chapter 4: The Architect of Ruin
Julian stared at his father, the realization hitting him harder than the shove. He looked at Elara, who was dabbing a single, dry tear from her eye, her gaze locking with his. There was no sympathy in her eyes—only a cold, hollow triumph.
"You..." Julian whispered, his anger turning into a sick, creeping dread. "You planned this. All of it."
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"You were the perfect liability, Julian," Silas said, stepping closer, his voice a low, dangerous whisper that only his son could hear. "You have the temper. You have the history. You have the ego. It was only a matter of time before you destroyed yourself. I’m simply accelerating the process."
The matriarch, still frantic on the phone with the authorities, didn't hear the exchange. She was busy describing a scene of domestic violence that she thought she had witnessed, painting a picture that would send her own son to prison.
