A week after my grandmother left her sprawling estate to me, my cousin Julian cornered me on the west balcony.

The hospital ceiling was a blur of fluorescent white lights. The scent of antiseptic burned my nose as I was wheeled into the trauma bay. The doctors swarmed me, shouting medical jargon, but my mind was anchored to one undeniable fact: I couldn't feel my legs.

Hours later, the chaos subsided. I lay in a private, heavily guarded VIP suite—courtesy of Thorne. My spine was fractured, but the spinal cord wasn't severed. The doctors said with intense physical therapy, I might walk again in a year.

A year. A year stolen from me by my own blood.

The heavy door creaked open, and my parents slinked in. My mother looked around nervously, clutching her Birkin bag like a shield. My father cleared his throat, attempting his usual authoritative tone.

"Elena, darling," my father started, forcing a sympathetic smile. "This has all been a terrible misunderstanding. Julian is a wreck. He was trying to catch you when you fell."

I stared at him, my blood running cold. "He pushed me, Dad. I felt his hands."

"You were disoriented!" my mother snapped, her facade cracking. "Do you realize what you're doing? The police arrested him in front of the governor! Our family stock is plummeting. If you don't retract your statement, you'll ruin us all."

"I am already ruined," I whispered, gesturing to my motionless legs.

"We can make this right," my father pleaded, stepping closer. "Julian is willing to concede twenty percent of his offshore holdings to you. A peace offering. We keep this in the family. We protect the Vanguard name."

Before I could tell them to go to hell, a voice echoed from the doorway.

"The Vanguard name belongs solely to Elena."

Thorne stepped into the room, followed by two uniformed police officers. He held a thick leather binder. "Under the terms of Eleanor’s true will, any attempt on Elena’s life by a family member triggers the 'Judas Clause.' Effective immediately, all trust funds, stipends, and access to Vanguard properties for the extended family are frozen. You are trespassing on my client’s dime."