Chapter 15
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The Southampton estate was immediately placed under an absolute, terrifying lockdown. Within an hour of the drone incident, Julian had mobilized a private security firm comprised entirely of former elite special forces operatives. Heavily armed guards patrolled the perimeter walls with tactical dogs, and high-altitude jamming signals were activated to instantly scramble any unauthorized aerial vehicles.
Elena sat in the nursery, holding a peacefully sleeping Clara tightly against her chest. She refused to let the fear paralyze her, but the threat to her child had unlocked a primal, fierce maternal rage.
Julian walked into the nursery, looking exhausted but radiating an intense, lethal focus. He wore a dark tactical sweater, having personally inspected every inch of the perimeter defenses.
"The jamming grid is active," Julian whispered softly, walking over to wrap his strong arms around both Elena and Clara. "Nothing is getting through that airspace again."
"He flew a drone into our home, Julian," Elena said, her voice shaking slightly with fury. "He threatened our daughter."
"I know," Julian replied, pressing his forehead against hers. "And for that, he is going to lose absolutely everything."
"What is the plan?" Elena asked, looking up into his dark eyes.
"Sterling is desperate," Julian explained quietly. "The PR disaster destroyed his liquidity. He is heavily over-leveraged on the short-sell against our stock. The upcoming quarterly board meeting on Friday is his absolute deadline. If he doesn't force a hostile takeover and claim our assets by then, his offshore creditors will liquidate his syndicate."
"He needs the board members to vote against you," Elena realized.
"Yes," Julian nodded. "Victoria is currently making quiet calls to the legacy board members, offering them massive, illegal kickbacks to betray me on Friday."
"Who is the swing vote?" Elena asked, her brilliant mind shifting instantly into tactical mode.
"Thomas Sterling," Julian sighed heavily. "No relation to Alexander, ironically. Thomas is an old-guard traditionalist. He respects the Vance legacy, but he is incredibly risk-averse. Victoria is likely terrifying him with threats of total bankruptcy."
"You can't go to Thomas," Elena said firmly. "He will see it as intimidation. He knows your reputation for destroying people who cross you."
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"Then what do we do?"
"I will go to him," Elena decided, carefully lowering Clara into her crib. "Thomas respects family, and he respects stability. I will show him exactly what kind of stability we are offering, and I will remind him what happens to people who partner with Victoria."
