Chapter 13 - The Betrayal
Saturday afternoon brought a catastrophic shift to the weekend summit that threatened to destroy everything they had carefully built.
While Gabriel and Eleanor Vance were locked in the study conducting the final merger negotiations, Clara was relaxing in the conservatory with her book.
Suddenly, the glass doors burst open, and Julian Vance marched into the room holding a thick manila folder with a triumphant, malicious sneer on his face.
“I told you I would find the rock you crawled out from under, sweetheart,” Julian hissed, throwing the folder onto the glass coffee table in front of her.
Clara’s eyes fell to the scattered contents of the folder, her heart stopping cold in her chest as she saw what Julian had discovered.
It was a complete copy of the Master Financial Guarantee and Medical Trust Agreement she had signed in Gabriel’s office three weeks ago.
There were bank transfer records to Mount Sinai Hospital, Lucas’s medical files, and the six-month personal employment clause highlighted in bright yellow ink.
“A paid actress,” Julian laughed cruelly, his pale eyes shining with venomous glee as he stood over her. “Gabriel bought your brother's marrow transplant in exchange for six months of playing his whore.”
Clara shot to her feet, her face turning pale as sheet music, her hands trembling with a violent mixture of terror and absolute rage.
“How did you get those documents?” she demanded, her voice cracking as the realization of their complete exposure crashed down upon her.
“I bribed a junior filing clerk in Thorne Capital's legal department,” Julian bragged openly. “Twenty thousand dollars is a small price to pay to stop a three-billion-dollar merger.”
He snatched the documents back off the table, waving them in front of her face like a victory flag before turning toward the conservatory doors.
“I am taking these directly to my aunt Eleanor right now,” Julian sneered. “By dinnertime, Gabriel’s reputation will be ruined, and you will be thrown out into the street where you belong.”
“No! Please, Julian, don't!” Clara cried out, stepping forward to grab his sleeve, terrified of what the fallout would mean for Lucas’s ongoing medical care.
May you like
Julian ripped his arm away from her grasp with so much force that Clara lost her footing on the polished stone floor.
She fell backward, her shoulder slamming hard against the corner of a heavy marble planter before she crumpled onto the cold floor of the conservatory.
