Chapter 7: A House Divided
When Julian returned to his penthouse at dawn, Cassandra was waiting in the glass-walled living room. She hadn't changed out of her evening gown. A half-empty bottle of scotch sat on the obsidian coffee table, alongside a stack of tablet computers displaying frantic news headlines.
“VANE ESTATE AUCTION DISRUPTED BY MYSTERIOUS ACCUSER” “VANE HOLDINGS STOCK DROPS 4% FOLLOWING GALA INCIDENT”
"Where were you?" Cassandra asked, her voice dangerously quiet.
"Getting the truth," Julian said, tossing the garnet signet ring onto the table. It clattered against the glass, coming to rest near her phone.
Cassandra glanced at it with utter disdain. "The board called an emergency meeting for 9:00 AM. Public Relations has drafted a statement claiming the woman is an escaped psychiatric patient from an unaccredited facility. You will sign it, Julian. Then you will appear on CNBC at noon to reaffirm the merger with Apex Capital."
Julian looked at his wife—at the razor-thin perfection she maintained at all costs. "She’s my aunt, Cassandra. My father burned her home and stole her identity."
Cassandra didn't even blink. "I don't care if she's the Queen of England. Do you have any idea what happens to our assets if the original deeds are contested? The merger dies. The SEC steps in. The bank recalls our credit lines. Everything we have built vanishes overnight."
May you like
"It was never ours to build," Julian said calmly.
Cassandra stepped toward him, her eyes narrowing into slits. "I didn't marry a moralist, Julian. I married a man who knew how to rule. If you hesitate, if you show even a second of weakness to the board today, I will personally sign the paperwork to have you removed under the incapacity clause. Don't test me."
