Chapter 5 - A Traitor's Panic|
In a luxury penthouse downtown, Julian was popping the cork on an expensive bottle of champagne. Sitting on the leather sofa was Maya, his beautiful young mistress and the daughter of the bank CEO who was funding his startup.
“Did you finally get rid of that leech?” Maya purred, taking a crystal flute from him.
“Completely dealt with,” Julian laughed loudly, loosening his tie. “The judge ordered her to leave with nothing. That bastard in her belly is society's problem now, not mine.”
Just then, Julian’s phone rang. It was his private corporate lawyer.
“What is it?” Julian snapped, annoyed at the interruption.
“Julian! Where the hell are you? The company is under attack!” The lawyer’s voice cracked with sheer panic.
“Attack? What are you talking about? By who?”
“The Sterling family! They’re hostile-taking over all our shares on the market. The bank just called; they’ve cut our entire credit line! Three major partners have canceled their contracts in the last fifteen minutes!”
The champagne glass slipped from Julian’s hand, shattering into pieces on the marble floor. The color drained from his face.
“What? Why is the Sterling family targeting me? I don't even know them!”
“Are you insane?!” the lawyer screamed through the receiver. “The woman who walked into your courtroom this morning... that was Eleanor Sterling! And the ex-wife you just threw out on the street with nothing is her long-lost biological daughter! You just evicted the sole heir to the Sterling Empire!”
Julian stumbled backward, crashing into the glass coffee table. His limbs trembled uncontrollably, his breathing growing erratic. The image of the matriarch’s icy glare and Clara’s unbroken posture flashed in his mind.
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“No... no, that’s impossible,” he muttered, cold sweat dripping from his forehead. “She was just a low-class orphan...”
He bolted for the door, ignoring Maya’s shrill questions. He had to find Clara. He had to fix this before his little empire was ground into fine dust.
