Chapter 7 - Threads of Deception
Julian adjusted the collar of his shirt, feeling the familiar weight of his former life rushing back. The dirty jumpsuit lay crumpled in the corner of the room—a discarded skin.
"She isn't just a asset, Father," Julian said, his voice dropping into a dangerous register. "If you harm her or try to use her as leverage against me, the Pendelton assets won't be the only thing that burns tonight."
Hector didn't flinch. Instead, a slow, approving smile spread across his weathered face. "Good. The Vance blood still runs hot in you. A king must protect what is his. But remember this, Julian: love built on a foundation of lies is merely a fortress made of glass. One stone, and it shatters."
Outside, the blinding beams of headlights cut through the torrential rain as a silver sedan pulled up to the garage entrance. The tires screeched to a halt, and moments later, the heavy metal side door swung open.
Clara rushed inside, drenched from the rain, her eyes wide with terror and confusion. She wore a simple trench coat over her clothes, her hair dark and slick against her face. She stopped dead in her tracks the moment she stepped into the bay.
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The garage was no longer empty. Two luxury sedans flanked Hector’s black G-Wagon. Men in dark suits stood silently around the perimeter. And standing in the center of the room, flanked by the powerful elder titan she had only seen in business magazines, was Julian—looking not like a tired mechanic, but like a commander standing over his domain.
"Julian?" Clara whispered, her voice barely audible over the sound of rain pounding on the roof. "What... what is this?"
