Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN JULIAN WANTED GONE
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Cassandra sat in a federal interview room wearing a gray prison-issued sweatshirt.
She looked nothing like the polished woman from the old photographs.
When I entered, she smiled.
“You look like him.”
“Who?”
“Richard.”
The name made my stomach tighten.
“You know who my father was.”
“I know exactly who he was.”
“Then tell me why Julian is trying to destroy me.”
Cassandra leaned back.
“Because you were never supposed to survive the seven-year mark.”
I stared.
“What?”
“He planned to divorce you.”
“When?”
“After the trust transferred.”
“And then?”
“Accuse you of fraud.”
I felt sick.
“You have proof?”
Cassandra slid a folder across the table.
Emails.
Bank records.
Phone logs.
Julian had planned everything.
There was even a private memo:
Step One: Establish Serena as financially dependent.
Step Two: Isolate Evelyn.
Step Three: Trigger transfer.
Step Four: Secure trust.
Step Five: Remove Serena from all controlling roles.
My hands shook.
“He was going to kill my mother.”
Cassandra nodded.
“He wanted the death to look accidental.”
“Why tell me now?”
She stared at me.
“Because I helped build the plan.”
Silence.
“I was recruited by Julian's father.”
“To do what?”
“To identify Richard's hidden heir.”
“And that was me.”
“Yes.”
I looked at her.
“Why did you help them?”
She lowered her eyes.
“Money.”
“That simple?”
“No.”
She swallowed.
“Fear.”
“Of who?”
“Julian's father.”
She explained that he controlled a private security network.
Anyone who refused could lose everything.
Cassandra had spent years helping the family manipulate trusts.
But she had not expected Julian to become violent.
“When your mother was hit,” she said, “I realized he had crossed a line.”
“Why didn't you stop him?”
“I did.”
“You?”
“I called Marcus.”
I looked at her.
“She told me the address of the penthouse.”
My heart stopped.
“That's why Marcus arrived so quickly.”
“Yes.”
Cassandra looked ashamed.
“I knew I couldn't save you from Julian.”
“So you helped me escape.”
“I tried.”
I closed the folder.
“What happens now?”
Cassandra stared at me.
“Julian will make one final move.”
“What?”
“He'll try to seize the original trust certificate.”
“Where is it?”
She smiled.
“You have it.”
I frowned.
“I don't.”
She pointed toward my necklace.
I touched it.
The necklace was my father's wedding gift to my mother.
I had inherited it after her death.
“There.”
I removed it.
A tiny compartment opened.
Inside was a folded certificate.
The original trust document.
The signature.
The seal.
My father's handwriting.
Cassandra stared.
“That is what he wants.”
“Then he won't get it.”
Cassandra smiled faintly.
“You're learning.”
We left the room.
Outside, Marcus was waiting.
“He made his move.”
“How?”
“Julian filed an emergency motion claiming the trust certificate was stolen.”
I laughed.
“Of course.”
“There is more.”
“What?”
“His attorney submitted a security video.”
Showing me taking the certificate from his office.
I stared.
“That footage is fake.”
“Yes.”
“Can we prove it?”
Marcus nodded.
“We already did.”
He handed me a report.
The video timestamp was wrong.
The security system had been offline that day.
The fake footage had been created later.
Then another report appeared.
Julian had transferred millions more.
Not to his family.
To a private account overseas.
I looked at Marcus.
“What's there?”
He answered quietly:
“Everything he's stolen.”
May you like
I smiled.
“Then let's get it back.”
