Chapter 11 - The Matriarch's Court
Julian stepped out of the container, his hands raised, shielding Elena behind his body.
The rain seemed to part around the brilliance of the yacht’s industrial halogen beams. Standing on the gangway lowered onto the pier was Lady Catherine Vance. She was sixty-five years old, wrapped in an immaculate sable coat, holding a pearl-handled umbrella held aloft by an attendant. Her face was an unyielding sculpture of aristocratic contempt.
Beside her stood Lucas, his tailored coat now buttoned, his smirk cruel and victorious. And in front of Lucas, held by the collars of their shirts by two towering mercenaries, were Leo and Maya.
""Let them go, Catherine,"" Julian said, his voice dropping into a register of icy lethal calm that surprised even himself. ""This is between you and me.""
""Don't address me by my name, Julian. I am your mother,"" Catherine said, her voice amplified smoothly by the yacht’s deck speakers. ""And you have brought unimaginable disgrace upon this family. Abandoning the Sinclair heiress at the altar? Parading dockside bastards through the city? Did you truly think you could defy me?""
""They are your grandchildren!"" Elena shouted, stepping out beside Julian, her voice ringing with fury despite her physical weakness. ""Look at them! They carry your blood, Catherine!""
Catherine didn't even turn her head to look at the children. ""They carry the blood of a common whore. The Vance legacy belongs to Lucas. It has always belonged to Lucas.""
""Then why fake his death?"" Julian demanded, taking a half-step forward. The mercenaries tightened their grip on Leo’s neck. Julian halted instantly. ""Why make me believe my brother drowned?""
""Because Lucas had debts,"" Lucas himself answered, stepping down the gangway with effortless leisure. ""Debts with foreign cartels that Vance Holdings couldn't legally pay without bringing down federal audits. Mother needed a clean face to run the legitimate side of the business—a boy scout who would sign merger papers without looking at the logistics footnotes. You were our front man, Julian. The useful idiot.""
Julian’s vision went red. Every board meeting, every philanthropic gala, every grueling eighty-hour work week he had endured to keep the Vance empire afloat had simply been cover for Lucas's international syndicates.
""And now?"" Julian asked, his voice shaking with suppressed rage. ""What is your grand design?""
""A tragic harbor accident,"" Catherine stated calmly. ""Julian Vance, overcome by grief and madness after a terrorist assault at his wedding, kidnapped two vagrant children and murdered his former lover before throwing himself into the harbor. Lucas miraculously reappears from hiding to claim his rightful seat as executive chairman. Victoria Sinclair will marry Lucas instead. The merger proceeds. The family endures.""
""You're insane,"" Elena whispered, horrified.
May you like
""No, my dear,"" Catherine smiled, a terrifying, lifeless parting of red lips. ""I am simply an executive. Lucas, end this spectacle. Shoot the children first. Julian needs to understand the cost of disobedience before he dies.""
Lucas drew his gold-plated handgun and leveled it directly at Leo's forehead.
