Chapter 10 - An Unfinished Reckoning
Julian gently guided Clara toward the grand terrace doors, his arm remaining firmly wrapped around her shoulders to support her weight.
Every step Clara took in her silver heels was hesitant, her body still trembling from the shock of the violent assault and the sudden rescue.
Behind them, the ballroom lay in absolute ruin, a physical monument to the hubris and cruelty of the woman who had tried to conquer the Sterling house.
Victoria pushed herself up onto her elbows, spitting a strand of blonde hair from her lips, her eyes wild with a mixture of hatred and desperation.
"This isn't over, Julian!" Victoria shrieked, her voice echoing through the vast, empty ballroom like a dying curse.
"Your father will be back from London tomorrow morning! He loves me! He will cut you out of the trust before he ever lets you ruin me!"
Julian stopped at the threshold of the glass patio doors, the cool night breeze washing over his face and Clara’s tear-stained cheeks.
He did not turn his entire body, merely glancing over his broad shoulder back into the devastated room.
Evelyn was desperately trying to pick up the broken shards of the portrait frame, her hands bleeding from small cuts as she realized the depth of the ruin.
Victoria sat amidst the trash, her crimson dress looking like a butcher's apron under the harsh chandelier glare.
"Father gave me power of attorney three days ago when he signed the London merger documents," Julian said, his voice flat, emotionless, and final.
"He already knows what you are, Victoria. He just needed the evidence to prove it to the board without paying your settlement."
Victoria’s jaw dropped, her breath catching in her throat as the final, brutal trap snapped shut around her.
Julian didn't wait to watch her reaction; he turned back toward the terrace and stepped out into the crisp, clean night air with Clara.
They walked down the wide stone steps toward the courtyard where his dark SUV sat idling beneath the iron lanterns.
Clara looked up at the stars, the cool wind soothing the burning welt on her cheek and the bruise beneath her collarbone.
For the first time in eighteen months, the suffocating terror that had lived in the back of her throat began to dissolve into real hope.
Yet, as Julian opened the passenger door for her, the heavy vibration of his personal phone in his pocket caught his attention.
He helped Clara into the leather seat, closed the door securely, and pulled the phone from his tailored trousers.
The caller ID flashed with a restricted international number from the United Kingdom.
Julian pressed the phone to his ear, his piercing gray eyes scanning the dark perimeter of the estate.
"Speak," Julian commanded into the receiver.
May you like
The voice on the other end was not his father’s, but that of Marcus Sterling’s private personal physician in London, his tone frantic and breathless.
"Julian, you need to get to Heathrow immediately," the doctor whispered urgently over the crackling line. "Your father never made it to the merger meeting... his car was run off the road outside Surrey an hour ago."
