Chapter 5 - Digging Up the Bones
Julian Vance did not confront his brother immediately. You don't strike a snake until you know exactly where the nest is.
Instead, Julian turned his company inside out. He hired an external, ghost auditing firm to bypass Silas’s compliance teams. He instructed Victor to clone Silas’s hard drives, track his encrypted communications, and dig into the deep web of the Vice President's personal finances.
For three days, Julian operated like a machine. He attended meetings with Silas, smiled, reviewed contracts, and played the part of the oblivious older brother, all while a violent, raging inferno built inside his chest.
On the fourth night, Victor delivered the kill shot.
"You were right," Victor said, standing in Julian’s dimly lit office long after the building had emptied. He slid a flash drive across the desk. "Silas has been running a massive embezzlement scheme for the last six years. He sets up shell companies during international acquisitions, over-inflates the purchase price, and funnels the excess capital into accounts in the Caymans. He's stolen nearly eighty million dollars from Vance Logistics."
Julian stared at the drive. "And the photos?"
Victor sighed, a heavy, grim sound. "I tracked down the private investigator who took them. A low-level sleaze named Marcus Vance." Victor paused. "Silas paid him fifty thousand dollars in cash to trail your wife. Silas knew exactly who Leo Rossi was. He paid the photographer to angle the shots to look romantic. He set her up, Julian. He knew if Elena stayed, she would eventually notice his spending habits. She was asking too many questions about the company finances. Silas needed her gone."
Julian closed his eyes. The sheer, unfathomable depth of the betrayal ripped through his chest, tearing apart everything he had ever believed about family, loyalty, and trust.
He had protected Silas his entire life. He had built an empire to keep his brother safe. And in return, Silas had murdered his marriage and stolen his daughter.
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Julian opened his eyes. They were completely devoid of light.
"Victor," Julian whispered, his voice sounding like grinding stone. "Lock down the building. Cancel all of Silas's security clearances. Freeze every single bank account associated with his name. And tell him to meet me in the boardroom."
