Chapter 8 - The Legal Barricade
Julian did not waste a single second. Within an hour of Marcus’s terrifying revelation, Julian’s legal team descended upon the estate like an army preparing for a siege. He sat at the head of his massive dining table, surrounded by the most ruthless divorce attorneys and wealth managers in California. "I want her locked out of every single account," Julian commanded, his voice echoing in the large room. "Cancel her credit cards, revoke her access to the properties, and freeze the joint investment portfolios. She gets absolutely nothing."
"Julian, if we do this so aggressively, her lawyers will claim financial abuse," his lead attorney, Sarah, warned cautiously. "She could file for an emergency injunction and drag this out in court for years."
"Let her try," Julian growled. "I have evidence that she is emotionally abusing my daughter, and I have Marcus looking into a suspicious death attached to her past. We are not playing defense. We are going to bury her in litigation until she realizes she targeted the wrong family."
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But Elena was not a woman who surrendered easily. By evening, a process server arrived at the gates of the estate, handing Julian’s security team a thick stack of legal documents. Elena had filed an emergency petition for temporary custody of Lily, claiming that Julian was suffering from a paranoid breakdown and that she was the only stable maternal figure in the child's life.
Julian read the document, his hands shaking with a mixture of absolute rage and profound disbelief. She was weaponizing the legal system to get back into the house, to regain access to the child she despised. It was a calculated move to force Julian to the negotiating table. He looked up at his security chief, his jaw set in stone. "Double the guards. No one gets through those gates. If she tries to take my daughter, she will have to go through me."
