Chapter 7 - THE TRUTH ABOUT FATHER
The ride to the airfield felt endless. My wrists were bound loosely in front of me. The satchel sat on the floor between the two men up front. Everything I had worked to gather—the proof of Julian’s crimes, Victor’s complicity, the embezzled millions—was now in the hands of the very man it was meant to destroy.
I kept my breathing steady. I kept my hand resting protectively over my stomach. If this was to be the end… I would not go quietly.
When we arrived at the private airfield, the runway was lit by floodlights. A large private jet stood waiting, engines idling. Beside it stood Julian Voss. Dressed in a heavy cashmere coat, suitcase in hand, looking exactly as he always did—calm, distinguished, untouchable.
The car stopped. The men pulled me roughly out and marched me toward him. Julian watched me approach, face unreadable. When I stood before him, he smiled faintly.
“Good evening, Elena. I apologize for the roughness. Business does not always permit polite manners.”
“You betrayed my father,” I said, voice shaking with rage. “You betrayed me. You conspired with Victor to steal Vale Dominion from the inside. You threatened my child. You threatened my life.”
Julian sighed softly. He glanced at the men and nodded. They stepped back a respectful distance, leaving us relatively alone beneath the wing of the plane.
“You speak as though this came as a surprise to your father,” Julian said quietly. “But the truth… your father knew exactly what I was doing.”
The words hit me harder than a blow. “That is a lie.”
“Is it?” Julian stepped closer, voice low and steady. “Your father was a brilliant businessman, Elena. But he was also a man who worried himself sick over you. He knew you were brilliant, yes—but he also knew you were idealistic. Soft‑hearted. Too willing to trust. He feared you would marry the wrong man someday and lose everything he had spent his life building.”
Julian paused, gaze steady on mine.
“He asked me to watch over you. To guide you. And if necessary… to arrange a marriage with a man who would be easy to control. A man who would never challenge your authority… or mine. Victor was chosen carefully. He came from good stock. He was ambitious but weak. He would do exactly as told. Your father agreed to the plan. He signed the very first contract with Whitmore Logistics himself. Before he died.”
I swayed on my feet. “You forged his signature. You twisted his last wishes.”
“I did not forge anything,” Julian said evenly. “Your father feared you would fall in love with someone who would take you away from the company. Someone who would take Vale Dominion apart. He wanted you safe. Married to a man we could manage. Kept away from the true burdens of leadership.”
“And the embezzlement?” I demanded. “The threats? The plan to kill me?”
Julian’s expression hardened. “That… became necessary when you began refusing to stay in your place. When you insisted on running the company yourself. When you fell in love with Victor rather than merely tolerating him. When you began asking questions I had forbidden. I never intended to harm you, Elena. But you left me with no choice. Victor failed to control you. Your father’s plan fell apart because you refused to be the quiet obedient wife we expected.”
“So you decided to murder me and frame it as an accident,” I said. “All for money.”
“For stability,” Julian corrected coldly. “Once you are gone, I will place the company in trusted hands. I will raise your child as my own. I will guide Vale Dominion exactly as your father and I always intended. Nothing will be lost. Everything will remain safe.”
I stared at him, seeing him clearly at last. Julian truly believed he was doing the right thing. He believed my father had wanted this. He believed he was protecting an empire. He had convinced himself that destroying me was an act of loyalty to a dead man’s wishes.
“You are insane,” I said softly. “My father loved me. He would never have wanted me treated like a prisoner. He would never have wanted his grandchild raised in lies.”
“Your father was a practical man,” Julian said. “He understood that great fortunes require sacrifices.”
He nodded toward the plane. “Board now. We fly to Switzerland. You will remain there until… matters are settled. Do not fight. Do not scream. No one is coming to save you.”
The men stepped forward and seized my arms. I looked wildly around the airfield. Empty. Silent. No sirens. No headlights. Clara had failed. Victor had failed. Margaret had failed. Julian had won.
But as the men pulled me toward the aircraft steps, headlights suddenly blazed at the airfield gate. Blue and red lights burst into life. Sirens screamed across the tarmac.
Julian froze. He spun toward the noise. “Impossible. No one knew—”
A voice rang out loud and clear through a megaphone.
“Julian Voss! Stand down! We have surrounded the airfield!”
Julian’s face twisted in fury. He looked at me, eyes narrowing. “Who? Who betrayed me?”
“Perhaps your friend Victor was not as obedient as you believed,” I said.
Julian’s face darkened. He pulled a small pistol from inside his coat and leveled it straight at my chest. The guards flinched and released me, staring in horror.
“If I cannot have the company,” Julian snarled, “then neither can you. Nor the heir.”
He cocked the hammer.
I stood frozen, staring down the barrel. This was it. Julian intended to kill me right here, before the police could even reach us.
Then—from nowhere—a figure crashed into Julian’s side, tackling him violently to the pavement. The gun went off. The bullet skyrocketed harmlessly upward. Julian roared in fury as he fought to free himself from the man pinning him down.
It was Victor. Breathless, bleeding, his coat torn, fighting with a desperation I had never seen in him before.
“Run, Elena!” Victor shouted, struggling to hold Julian down. “Run now!”
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The guards stood paralyzed, unsure whom to help. Sirens were drawing closer. Police vehicles burst through the gate and sped toward us.
I did not run. I stumbled forward, grabbed my satchel which had dropped during the struggle, and turned back just in time to see Julian overpower Victor, raise the gun once more, and aim it straight at Victor’s chest.
