Chapter 8 - The Price of a Name
The confirmation hung in the air, heavy and irrevocable. Julian stared at the printed numbers on the thermal paper, the cold data verifying what his soul had already recognized the moment he laid eyes on the boy. Leo was his flesh, his blood, his responsibility.
""What are you going to do?"" Marcus asked quietly, leaning against the examination counter while Catherine sat beside the crib, gently stroking Leo’s tiny, sleeping hand. ""Eleanor knows you survived the bridge. She’s already moving to freeze your personal liquid assets. My contact at Vance International says the board of directors received an emergency motion at midnight to remove you for gross negligence and mental instability.""
""She’s desperate,"" Julian said, his eyes burning with cold ambition. ""She knows if Leo is legally recognized as my legitimate heir, the terms of my grandfather’s original trust are activated. Grandfather hated my mother's obsession with aristocracy. His will states clearly: if I father an heir before the age of thirty, fifty-one percent of the voting shares bypass the board and transfer directly to me.""
Catherine turned her head, her face pale under the fluorescent lights. ""She will never let that happen, Julian. Your mother would rather see this child dead than watch a former caterer's son inherit the Vance empire.""
Julian walked over to Catherine and crouched beside her. He took her cold, scarred hands into his own. ""Nine months ago, I was a coward. I believed the forged documents, the manufactured rumors, because it was easier than fighting the woman who built me. I let them drive you out. I let you suffer in the dark.""
""Julian...""
""I won't let it happen again,"" he promised, his voice trembling with an intensity she had never heard before. ""Tomorrow, I walk into that boardroom. But I’m not going alone. You and Leo are coming with me.""
Catherine shook her head frantically. ""They will tear us apart! The press, the security guards, the Sterling family—they have endless resources!""
""They have money. I have the bloodline,"" Julian countered coldly. He reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a small brass key. ""Marcus, is the safe in the back still active?""
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""Untouched since your father died,"" Marcus replied, his expression turning solemn.
Julian stood, his posture commanding and ruthless. ""It’s time we open the sealed ledger my father left behind. The one Eleanor spent twenty years trying to burn.""
