Chapter 14 - The Prisoner's ConfessionBack at the main estate office by 3:00 AM, the atmosphere was charged with electricity.
Julian was tied securely to a heavy oak chair in the center of the study. His tactical gear was stripped away, leaving him looking like a desperate, cornered animal.
Tessa stood by the desk, reviewing a digital thumb drive recovered from Julian’s tactical vest.
"Well, Mr. Vance," Tessa said, looking up from the screen with a thin smile. "It turns out your brother Dominic didn't just plan a corporate hostile takeover. According to these encrypted emails... they were planning something much more permanent."
I stepped closer, my eyes locking onto Julian. "What kind of permanent?"
Julian clamped his mouth shut, staring defiantly at the floor. "I’m not saying a word. You can't touch me without a federal warrant."
I didn't raise my voice. I simply walked over to the corner of the room, picked up a heavy ledger containing every fraudulent shipping receipt Julian had signed over the past three years, and dropped it onto the table in front of him with a deafening thud.
"Federal warrants are for amateurs, Julian," I said quietly. "In my world, you don't need a judge when you hold the debt registry. If you don't talk in the next ten seconds, I will hand these files directly to the federal marshals and leak your offshore laundering accounts to your business partners in Colombia. Let's see how long you survive in a federal prison after you've stolen from cartel-backed freight lines."
Julian’s face drained of every drop of color. His bravado shattered into dust.
"Okay! Okay, stop!" Julian stammered, raising his bound hands. "It was Arya! It was her idea!"
I froze. "Arya?"
"She... she found out about experimental treatments overseas," Julian confessed, his voice shaking uncontrollably. "Expensive ones that could have fixed your spine six months ago. But she didn't want you walking. If you recovered, the prenuptial agreement would have been voided, and she would have walked away with nothing in the divorce. So she bribed Marcus to suppress your recovery timeline, and she conspired with Dominic to lock you away permanently!"
The silence in the room became absolute.
I stared down at Julian, a cold, numb fury blooming behind my ribs. She hadn't just given up on me out of cold calculation. She had actively sabotaged my healing to steal my empire while keeping me broken.
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"Where is she?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
Julian swallowed hard. "She's... she's meeting with Dominic tonight at a private penthouse downtown. They’re trying to liquidate their remaining assets and flee the country."
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