BLOODLINE OF GLASS AND VENOM

Julian froze, the world tilting beneath his feet. The sterile white walls seemed to close in around him, suffocating the air from his lungs. ""You're lying. That's insane. Marcus was only twelve years older than me.""

""And your mother was twenty years younger than the late patriarch, Arthur Vance,"" Clara answered, her voice cutting through the clinical hum of the monitors. ""Marcus was nineteen when he had an affair with the young socialite his father was about to marry. You weren't Arthur's late-born miracle, Julian. You were Eleanor's darkest secret. Marcus was forced to play the older brother to keep the family fortune intact.""

Julian shook his head frantically, backing toward the doorway. His bloody hand left a smear against the wall. ""No. No, this is another one of your manipulations. You’re trying to destroy us because I left you.""

""I don't need to manipulate anything,"" Clara said, leaning forward. ""Marcus couldn't live with the lie anymore. When he threatened to tell you the truth on your thirtieth birthday, he suddenly had 'heart failure.' And now, Victoria and your mother are trying to erase the only person Marcus left the actual proof to.""

Ross plugged the titanium drive into his department-issued tablet. A series of file directories decrypted rapidly across the screen. He scrolled through the documents, his brows knitting into a hard frown.

""She's telling the truth, Julian,"" Ross said quietly, holding up the screen. ""DNA comparison certificates. Offshore trust distributions. Marcus revised his will forty-eight hours before his death, transferring sixty percent of the Vance voting shares to an unborn trust.""

Julian’s gaze locked onto the document dates. The unborn trust was filed in Clara’s name.