Chapter 3 - The Bloodline SecretVIRAL HEADLINE: Millionaire Mother Dropped A Bombshell Secrets That Turned The Enemy’s Weapon Against Them!
“When you dig a grave for your enemy, make sure you dig two. You might just fall in first.”
The boardroom was dead silent. Julian’s hand hovered over his leather folder, his fingers twitching slightly.
“What are you talking about?” Julian demanded, though his voice lacked the sharp confidence it had just moments before. “My father’s business in London was cleared by the High Court ten years ago!”
“Cleared because the primary witness vanished,” Mrs. Harrington said smoothly. She reached into her drawer and pulled out an old, faded black-and-white photograph, sliding it across the table.
The photo showed a young woman standing outside a grand townhouse in London, holding a infant wrapped in a blanket. Standing next to her was a young, dark-haired man who looked unmistakably like Julian’s late father, Arthur Vance.
Julian picked up the photo, his eyes scanning the image franticly. “This proves nothing. It’s an old photo.”
“That woman,” Mrs. Harrington said, pointing a gold-tipped pen at the image, “was named Clara Montgomery. She was your father’s chief accountant in 1998. And the baby she was holding? That was Tabitha.”
Robin stared at his mother in absolute shock. “Mom... what are you saying?”
“I’m saying, Robin, that Tabitha isn’t Julian’s biological sister,” Mrs. Harrington revealed, looking directly into Julian’s eyes. “She is the daughter of the woman your father framed to steal twenty million pounds. Your father adopted her after her mother died in prison, raised her as his own, and used her as a pawn to infiltrate wealthy families across Europe and America.”
Julian’s face went entirely pale. “That’s... that’s impossible. Tabitha is my blood!”
“Is she?” Mrs. Harrington chuckled softly. “Ask her yourself. Ask her why her DNA profile, which I obtained from the glass of iced tea she drank in my foyer yesterday, matches the biological markers of the Montgomery estate currently under federal trust in the United Kingdom.”
Julian staggered back a step, looking at the photo as if it were on fire.
Meanwhile, in a luxury hotel suite across town, Tabitha was pacing the floor, her phone pressed to her ear.
“Julian! Pick up the damn phone!” she screamed into the voicemail. “The media is outside my door! Harrington’s lawyers just froze my private accounts! What is happening? Did you enforce the Paris contract?”
The door to her suite clicked open. Tabitha spun around, expecting to see her brother. Instead, three federal agents in dark suits walked into the room, led by a stern-faced woman holding a warrant.
“Tabitha Vance?” the lead agent asked.
“Who allowed you in here? Do you know who I am?” Tabitha yelled, backing away toward the balcony. “I am marrying into the Harrington family! My lawyer will have your badges!”
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“Tabitha Vance, you are under arrest for federal wire fraud, identity theft, and corporate espionage,” the agent announced calmly, pulling out a pair of steel handcuffs. “And as for the Harrington family... Mrs. Eleanor Harrington is the one who filed the charges against you two hours ago.”
Tabitha’s phone slipped from her fingers, shattering against the marble tile floor. As the cold steel clicked around her wrists, her mind raced back to the muddy foyer, to the woman with the silver hair and the fake glasses who had looked at her not with anger, but with complete, terrifying pity.
