Chapter 12 - Julian’s Real Plan
By noon, the story had changed completely.
Evelyn wasn’t the mastermind.
Not entirely.
She had built the first fraud network.
But Julian had expanded it.
At twenty-one, he had begun moving company money through false vendors.
At twenty-three, Samuel discovered it.
At twenty-three, Julian cut the brakes on Samuel Reed’s car.
Marcus sat in a hospital room with his leg wrapped.
Claire paced beside the window.
“He killed Dad.”
Davis stood near the door.
“We have Evelyn’s statement.”
“Will it hold?”
“With the financial evidence, probably.”
Claire looked at Marcus.
“And he married me.”
Marcus’s face hardened.
“To control Dad’s heirs.”
Davis nodded.
“We think he also needed access to whatever assets Samuel left hidden.”
Claire laughed without humor.
“He spent seven years pretending to love me.”
“You don’t know that everything was fake,” Marcus said.
She stared at him.
“Don’t.”
“I’m not defending him.”
“It was fake.”
Her voice cracked.
“He studied me. Learned what I liked. Learned what I feared.”
She looked down.
“He used Dad’s own advice.”
Marcus frowned.
“What?”
“Dad used to tell me I deserved someone patient.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Julian was always patient.”
She laughed bitterly.
“Of course he was. He had a manual.”
Davis’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“When?”
He hung up.
“Julian accessed a private airfield account.”
Marcus sat up.
“He’s leaving the country.”
“Maybe.”
Claire turned.
“Maybe?”
“The plane belongs to Mercer Holdings, but there’s no flight plan.”
Marcus said, “He wants us to chase the plane.”
Davis nodded.
“A distraction.”
Claire suddenly froze.
“What does he still need?”
“The evidence?”
“He thinks it burned.”
Marcus shook his head.
“He saw us take the case.”
Claire looked at him.
“He needs Lily.”
“No.”
Marcus’s stomach tightened.
Claire already understood.
“Dad left assets to his grandchildren.”
“What assets?”
“I don’t know. But when Lily was born, a trust attorney contacted me.”
Davis leaned forward.
“What trust?”
Claire grabbed her phone.
“I never touched it.”
She searched through old emails.
“Samuel Reed Legacy Trust.”
Marcus stared.
“What’s in it?”
“I thought maybe fifty thousand dollars.”
She opened the file.
Her face changed.
“What?”
Claire turned the screen.
Twenty-eight million dollars.
Marcus swore.
Davis stepped closer.
“Who controls it?”
“Lily at twenty-one.”
“Until then?”
Claire read.
“The surviving parent or court-appointed guardian.”
Everyone went silent.
If Claire died...
Julian controlled Lily.
And the money.
Marcus spoke slowly.
“That’s the reason for the fake suicide.”
Claire nodded.
“He wasn’t just trying to kill me.”
“He was trying to inherit Dad’s last money.”
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
Claire answered.
“Julian.”
“Smart girl.”
Davis immediately began tracing.
Claire kept him talking.
“You killed my father.”
A pause.
Then Julian laughed softly.
“Mother talks too much.”
“You cut his brakes.”
“He was going to destroy everything.”
“He trusted you.”
“He abandoned me.”
“He wasn’t your father.”
“He was the only one I had.”
Claire’s voice hardened.
“So you killed him.”
Julian ignored her.
“You have something I want.”
“The drive?”
“No.”
Claire looked at Marcus.
“What?”
“Lily.”
Claire’s eyes turned cold.
“You come near her again and—”
“You misunderstand.”
Julian sounded almost amused.
“I don’t need to come near her.”
A notification appeared on Claire’s screen.
Security alert.
Lily’s school.
Front gate breach.
Claire stopped breathing.
May you like
Then Julian whispered:
“I already sent someone else.”
