"HE THOUGHT HE WAS SAVING AN ORPHAN BABY... UNTIL HE READ HIS FATHER'S SECRET WILL!"

With no choice left, Daniel hit the manual release lever. The heavy steel door unlatched and swung open.

Before the smoke could clear, two mercenaries grabbed Daniel, slamming him face-first against the hardwood floor of his study. A third operative snatched the crying infant from Annie’s arms, while Clara was violently thrown against the leather sofa.

"NO! Give him back!" Annie shrieked, clawing at the operative’s back, but a brutal backhand sent her flying into the glass coffee table, shattering it into a hundred pieces.

"Stand down, Daniel," a calm, chilling voice echoed through the doorway.

A man stepped through the wreckage of the shattered front entrance. He wore a tailor-made charcoal suit, a dark cashmere coat, and held a silver-tipped walking cane. It was Julian Whitaker.

"Julian... you monster," Daniel choked out, his cheek pressed hard against the cold floor. "He’s a child. He’s our father’s son—our brother!"

Julian smiled dryly, stepping over the shattered glass to stand directly beside the operative holding the infant. He reached out a gloved hand and gently touched Noah’s burning forehead.

"He isn't a brother, Daniel. He is an insurance policy," Julian said smoothly. "Our father was a genius, but he was paranoid. He left a third of his estate—and the controlling voting shares of Whitaker Global—to his last living biological issue born after his death. This infant doesn't just hold the biological key to curing my leukemia; he holds the legal key to my entire empire."

"So you kidnapped Helen?" Clara spat, blood trickling from a small cut on her forehead. "Where is she?"

Julian turned his cold blue eyes toward Clara. "Helen Vance was a loose end from twenty years ago. She knew too much about how we built this company. She thought she could blackmail me using this child. She was... mistaken."

"Is she dead?" Annie screamed, staggering to her feet, her hands bleeding from the glass shards. "What did you do to my momma?!"

Julian didn't answer her. He gestured to the mercenary holding Noah. "Package the asset. Transport him to the facility in Zurich immediately. The extraction surgery is scheduled for 0600 hours tomorrow."

"You'll kill him!" Daniel roared, wrestling against the operative holding him down. "He's six months old! He won't survive a full bone marrow harvest in his state!"

"His survival is secondary to my recovery," Julian replied coldly. "Eliminate the girl and Clara. Make it look like a home invasion gone wrong. Leave Daniel alive—he needs to sign the estate transfer papers tomorrow morning when I present him with the tragic news."

Julian turned on his heel and walked out the door with the baby.