Chapter 13 - The Conspirator
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The video feed stabilized, showing an ICU room.
I was sitting up in the hospital bed, hooked to IV lines and heart monitors. My skin was pale, but my eyes were clear and steady. Beside me stood my father, Harrison Vance, his hand resting supportively on my shoulder.
Julian gasped, taking a step toward the screen. "Evelyn..."
"Hello, Julian," I said, my voice echoing clearly through the boardroom speakers.
"Evelyn, please!" Julian cried out, his voice cracking with desperation. "You have to listen to me! Chloe set me up! She forged my signatures, she manipulated me! I love you, Evelyn, I was coming back to the hospital!"
"You tossed your wedding ring into a plastic tray and told the doctor you were choosing her," I reminded him, my tone devoid of any emotion. "You told me I was being dramatic while my placenta was detaching."
"I didn't know!" Julian sobbed, collapsing onto his knees in front of the camera feed. "I didn't realize how sick you were!"
"You didn't care," Harrison Vance interjected, his voice cutting through the room like thunder. "And you didn't know that your own mother was involved."
Arthur opened a secondary folder. "We have traced monthly payments of $20,000 from Cross Enterprises to a shell company owned by Margaret Cross—Julian’s mother. In exchange, she provided written affidavits claiming Evelyn was mentally unfit."
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Julian turned pale. "My... my mother?"
"Your entire family saw my daughter as a cash cow to be milked and slaughtered," Harrison growled. "You thought the Vances were weak because Evelyn walked away from us. You forgot that lions do not stay quiet when their cubs are threatened."
