Chapter 4 - The Architect of Treason
""Why, Marcus?"" Julian demanded, his voice dropping into a dangerous, icy register. ""Thirty years of friendship. My father treated you like a second son.""
Marcus halted a few yards away, his expression calm, almost pitying. ""Your father treated me like an employee, Julian. An exceptional one, but an employee nonetheless. He took the credit for the mergers I orchestrated, took the wealth, and handed me crumbs. But more importantly... your father murdered Victoria's family to build this empire.""
""That's a lie,"" Julian spat. ""My father was an honorable man.""
""Your father sank the cargo vessel The Siren in the winter of 1999,"" Marcus said, opening the silver briefcase on an upturned wooden crate. Inside were yellowed documents, maritime logs, and insurance policies marked with Julian's father's signature. ""Three hundred men lost. Victoria's father was blamed for the maritime disaster, bankrupting their family until he put a bullet through his own head. But it was your father who insured the ship for triple its value and paid the captain to scuttle it.""
Julian stared at the documents, his mind reeling. The fragmented memories of his childhood—the sudden influx of wealth, his father's sudden bouts of paranoia, the fortified vault built beneath the house—all snapped into horrifying alignment.
""And now,"" Marcus continued, pulling a set of legal transfer documents from the case, ""Victoria and I are simply correcting history. You will sign these deeds transferring the offshore trusts to her name. Once that is done, Lily will be sent to a boarding school in Switzerland, fully funded, never to return. Refuse, and Victoria will finish what she started with that golf club.""
""She was going to kill my daughter without hesitation,"" Julian snarled. ""You really think she'll let Lily live?""
Marcus hesitated for a fraction of a second, an imperceptible flicker of doubt crossing his eyes before his mask hardened again. ""Victoria is angry, but she listens to reason. Sign the papers, Julian.""
Julian shifted his bound wrists behind his back. The edge of the iron beam had an unpolished, razor-sharp burr on its corner. He began sawing the zip tie against the metal, feeling the plastic fray against the steel.
""Bring Lily down here,"" Julian said, buying time. ""Let me see she is alive, and I’ll sign whatever you want.""
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Marcus watched him carefully, then reached for his radio. ""Bring the girl down.""
The radio crackled with static, followed by a sound that made Julian’s blood run cold—a high-pitched scream from the floors above.
