Chapter 7 - THE ENEMY AT THE GATESThe reunion on the porch was shattered by the harsh glare of headlights cutting through the fog.
Three black armored SUVs roared up the private drive, kicking up gravel and tearing across the manicured lawn before slamming to a halt in front of the staff cottage. Car doors flew open in unison.
Half a dozen men in dark suits stepped out, led by a tall, silver-haired man with cold, calculating eyes—Marcus Vance, Julian’s uncle and the current Chief Operating Officer of Mercer Global.
Julian stood up slowly, placing Nora behind him and stepping in front of Emma like a shield. His grief vanished instantly, replaced by a cold, lethal fury that made the air around him freeze.
“Uncle Marcus,” Julian said, his voice dripping with venom. “You’re up late for a board member.”
Marcus adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, a smug, venomous smile spreading across his thin lips. He looked at Emma, then at Nora, and finally at Julian.
“I could say the same to you, nephew,” Marcus replied smoothly, taking a slow step forward. “Playing house with the maid and her bastard child? I must admit, when your father faked that accident two years ago, we thought we had tied up all the loose ends. But sentimentality has always been the Mercer family weakness.”
Julian’s eyes narrowed into slits. “You knew.”
“Of course I knew,” Marcus laughed softly, signaling his men to fan out around the cottage, blocking every exit. “Your father was a visionary, Julian, but he was soft. He let Olivia live because he thought she’d stay dead in hiding. But when she crept back onto the estate under a fake name as a common housekeeper? Well, let’s just say history loves to repeat itself.”
Marcus pulled a thick manila folder from his jacket and tossed it onto the wooden porch at Julian’s feet.
“Sign over your controlling shares of Mercer Global by midnight, Julian, or the police will be notified that your beloved ‘housekeeper’ is a fugitive who faked her own death—and your little daughter here will be placed in state custody while her mother is tried for fraud and identity theft.”
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Julian looked down at the folder, then back up at Marcus. A dark, terrifying smile crept across Julian’s face—a smile that made Marcus’s smug expression falter for the first time.
“You think you won, Marcus?” Julian whispered softly.
