Chapter 5 - Clearing the House
Without a word to Clara, Julian kissed her forehead, his eyes blazing with a newfound fury. He marched out of the master suite and descended the grand staircase.
"Assemble the entire staff in the grand hall. Now," Julian commanded his security team.
Within ten minutes, forty-five employees stood in a nervous line. At the very front stood Thomas, the impeccably dressed head butler, his face a mask of polite confusion. He bowed slightly as Julian approached.
"Sir, is there an emergency?" Thomas asked smoothly. "The police have surrounded the gates."
Julian didn't answer. He simply stared at the man who had watched him cry over his missing wife, all while hiding her behind a wall. Suddenly, Julian’s fist shot out, connecting squarely with Thomas’s jaw. The older man crumpled to the floor, gasping in shock as the staff screamed.
"Marcus! Cuff him!" Julian barked. He turned to the terrified staff. "For four years, my wife—the true lady of this house—was tortured and starved within these walls. Thomas was complicit. Isabella Vance orchestrated it."
He paced the line like a predator. "If any of you knew. If any of you suspected and stayed silent for a paycheck... you will join them in federal prison."
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The room was utterly silent. Most of the staff were new, hired by Isabella over the last four years. They looked genuinely horrified. Thomas, spitting blood onto the marble floor, began to laugh.
"You think this is over, Mr. Sterling?" Thomas sneered. "Isabella was just the face of the operation. You have no idea what you've uncovered."
