Chapter 3 - The Enemy’s Pawn

The rain poured relentlessly over the industrial district of the city.

Julian parked his sleek black sports car outside a run-down, converted warehouse where the surveillance report claimed Eliana was staying. The contrast between his life and hers was agonizing—he lived in a palace above the clouds, and she lived among rusted iron and crumbling brick.

He slammed his car door and marched into the building, his blood pumping with adrenaline.

He pushed open the heavy wooden door to a small, dimly lit room on the second floor.

Eliana was sitting at a wooden table, illuminated only by a single hanging lightbulb. She was eating a simple bowl of instant noodles. When the door slammed open, she didn't jump. She simply set her plastic fork down and looked up at Julian.

“I knew you’d come,” she said quietly.

Julian threw the surveillance photos onto her table. The images of her meeting with Richard Sterling scattered across the wood.

“Explain this,” Julian demanded, his voice echoing in the small room. “My mother thinks you’re a scammer. I was actually foolish enough to start believing you were my sister! But you’re working for Sterling, aren’t you? You sold out our family’s name to our biggest rival for a payoff!”

Eliana looked at the photos. Her expression didn't change from sorrow to guilt; instead, a bitter, hollow laugh escaped her lips.

“Your family’s name?” Eliana stood up, her small stature suddenly radiating an overwhelming intensity. “That name didn’t buy my mother’s medicine when she was coughing up blood! That name didn’t stop the landlords from kicking us out into the snow when I was twelve! You sit in your golden tower, Julian, talking about 'family honor'!”

“That doesn't answer my question!” Julian yelled, taking a step closer. “Why Sterling? Do you have any idea who that man is? He will use you until you’re stripped of every right, and then he will throw you into the gutter!”

“I know exactly who Richard Sterling is!” Eliana snapped back, tears finally glistening in her dark eyes. “He came to the hospital the night before my mother died. He offered to pay off all her medical bills and give me a team of lawyers to fight your mother in exchange for one thing—access to your father’s final will!”

Julian frowned. “My father’s will was executed three years ago. Everything went to my mother and me.”

“No,” Eliana said softly, taking a step toward him. “The public will was a draft created by your mother’s lawyers. The real will—the original signed by Arthur Vance six hours before his death—was hidden.”

Julian’s heart skipped a beat. “Hidden where?”

“In the safe at the old mansion,” Eliana revealed. “The silver key your butler holds. Sterling knows it exists. He wants the control of Vance Financial so he can liquidate the company. But I don't care about his war with you! I only took his money to ensure my mother got a proper burial!”

Julian stared at her. The sincerity and agony in her voice were undeniable. She wasn't an evil mastermind; she was a desperate pawn trapped between two ruthlessly ambitious titans—Victoria Vance and Richard Sterling.

Suddenly, the glass windows of the warehouse shattered into a million pieces!

CRASH!

Four men wearing black ski masks and tactical gear burst through the windows on ropes, guns raised.

“Get down!” Julian screamed, lunging forward and tackling Eliana to the concrete floor just as a hail of bullets tore through the room, pulverizing the wooden table and smashing the lightbulb, plunging the room into chaotic darkness.

“Who are they? Sterling’s men?!” Eliana gasped, holding onto Julian’s coat in absolute terror.

“No,” Julian whispered, pulling a concealed handgun from his jacket—a weapon he had brought purely for protection, never imagining he’d have to use it. “Sterling needs you alive to get the will. These men are here to kill you.”

“Then who sent them?!”

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Julian looked toward the door as heavy boots echoed up the metal staircase outside.

“My mother,” Julian said bitterly, realizing the horrific truth. “She isn’t going to fight you in court, Eliana. She’s going to make sure you never reach the courthouse at all.”