Chapter 2 - The Taste of Copper
The world seemed to spin backward. Elena stared at the screen until her eyes burned. Julian had cast her aside because Clara was pregnant, mocking Elena’s supposed barrenness during endless family dinners where his mother had openly degraded her. Yet here, glowing in the dim cabin light, was scientific proof of two new lives growing within her.
""Marcus,"" she whispered, her voice trembling for a fraction of a second before hardening into polished steel. ""Reroute to Saint Jude’s private wing. Dr. Albright needs to archive this file under an alias immediately. No one in this city can know.""
""Right away, Ms. Vance,"" Marcus answered without glancing back, smoothly switching lanes on the slick highway.
Elena locked the screen. A bitter smile tugged at the corner of her lips. Julian had thrown away an empire, and now he had unknowingly abandoned his own flesh and blood. If the Sterlings discovered her pregnancy, they would use lawyers, money, and corrupt court officials to strip her of custody simply to claim Vance-blooded heirs. She would burn the world down before allowing that vile family near her children.
Half an hour later, inside Dr. Albright’s high-security clinic suite, Elena sat wrapped in a warm fleece blanket while the doctor scanned her abdomen. The faint, rhythmic sound of two tiny heartbeats filled the quiet room.
""Both heartbeats are strong, Elena,"" Dr. Albright murmured gently, adjusting her glasses. ""About seven weeks. But your cortisol levels are dangerously elevated. You need complete rest. Whatever corporate storm you are brewing, your body cannot take heavy shock.""
""The storm won't touch me, Doctor,"" Elena replied evenly, watching the twin pulses flicker on the monitor. ""I am the storm.""
She stood, smoothed her dried suit, and stepped out toward the underground garage. Her legal team had already gathered at Vance Tower’s penthouse boardroom.
When she entered the conference floor, Arthur rose immediately, holding a thick leather binder. ""Elena. We executed the freezes at midnight. Julian’s signature is officially void at twelve banking houses across Europe and North America.""
""And the mansion?"" she asked, walking straight to the panoramic window overlooking the city skyline.
""The sheriff’s office will serve the eviction notice at dawn,"" Arthur said. Then he paused, his brow furrowing as he glanced down at a freshly printed document. ""However... we have a complication. Julian took out an emergency sixty-million-dollar syndicate loan late yesterday afternoon, using your forged signature as the primary guarantor.""
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Elena turned slowly, her eyes narrowing into cold slits. ""Who was the lender?""
""The Romanov Syndicate,"" Arthur answered quietly. ""And their enforcer is already on his way to collect.""
