SHATTERED GLASS AND VENGEANCE

Arthur Vance emerged from the salon with his hands raised, his laptop clutched against his chest like a child's toy. The old billionaire’s face had drained of all color, his lips trembling as Julian’s operators disarmed him and forced him onto his knees beside Mateo.

"Julian, listen to reason," Arthur pleaded, the wind howling around them. "This was business. It was never personal. We were trying to preserve the family enterprise from diluting through non-lineage heirs! We can reach a financial settlement. Twenty million. Fifty million. Whatever you want!"

Julian walked over to Arthur, taking the laptop from his hands. He glanced at the screen, saw the wire routing paths, and tossed the multimillion-dollar machine over the railing into the black ocean.

"You tried to poison my wife," Julian said quietly. "You hired contractors to shoot a pregnant woman. And you think this is business?"

"It was Sofia's idea!" Mateo sobbed from the deck, his cheek bleeding against the rough wood. "She convinced us! She hated Elena because Elena came from nothing and took everything she thought she deserved! Julian, please! We share the same father! You can't murder your own brother!"

"My father died ten years ago, Mateo," Julian said, his voice flat. "And you stopped being my brother the second you watched that woman push my wife onto the floor."

Julian turned toward his tactical commander. "Put them both in the life raft. Strip them of all communication devices, emergency transponders, and navigational equipment."

Arthur’s eyes widened with horror. "Julian! We're fifty miles off the continental shelf in a Category 2 storm! That's a death sentence!"

"It's a test of faith, Arthur," Julian said, turning his back on them as he walked toward the extraction winch. "If your god cares about corporate greed as much as you do, he'll guide you to shore."