Chapter 15 - Family Ties
Julian stood up. The sheer authority radiating from him commanded the room, silencing Grant mid-sentence.
"My sister is not stupid," Julian said, his voice dropping to a dangerous, icy register.
Grant froze. He looked from Julian to me, his brain struggling to process the impossible information. "Sister?" he choked out, his eyes wide. "What are you talking about?"
"Same mother," I said, finally letting a cold smile touch my lips. "Different surnames. Grant, you never bothered to ask about my family. You just wanted to erase them."
Julian placed both hands firmly on the table, leaning toward the man who had tormented me for years. "Mara didn't just find your fraud, Grant. She helped me design the internal financial controls that your sloppy embezzlement scheme eventually bypassed. And there is one more detail you missed in your aggressive pursuit of wealth."
Julian nodded to Celia, who pulled out a final legal document.
"Mara is not just my sister," Julian continued. "She is a primary beneficiary of the Cross family trust. Which means she legally owns twelve percent of Mercer Dynamics."
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Grant staggered backward, literally stumbling as his entire reality collapsed inward. He looked at me as if I were an alien species. "You... you told me you were a receptionist before we met."
"No, Grant," I said softly. "You decided that was all I could have been. And I let you believe it."
