Julian Vale arrived at 7:12 the next morning.<\/p>\n
He walked into the mansion demanding answers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the hell happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dominic watched from the library.<\/p>\n
His younger brother looked exactly as he always did: expensive coat, perfect haircut, controlled confidence.<\/p>\n
Julian was thirty-seven.<\/p>\n
Six years younger.<\/p>\n
Their father had treated Dominic like an heir and Julian like a spare.<\/p>\n
Dominic had spent years trying to compensate for that cruelty.<\/p>\n
He gave Julian businesses.<\/p>\n
Authority.<\/p>\n
Money.<\/p>\n
Respect.<\/p>\n
Maybe he had given him too much.<\/p>\n
Julian entered the library.<\/p>\n
Vincent closed the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dominic gestured toward a chair.<\/p>\n
Julian didn\u2019t sit.<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur\u2019s being held downstairs. Half the staff says there was a fire. Peter disappeared. What happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy brace was tampered with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian\u2019s reaction looked genuine.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRepeatedly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy who?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur. Peter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo weaken me before the council vote.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian swore.<\/p>\n
Then Dominic said, \u201cThey also caused my crash.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian stopped.<\/p>\n
That reaction was different.<\/p>\n
Too still.<\/p>\n
Dominic noticed.<\/p>\n
\u201cSurprised?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t look surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat am I supposed to look like?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dominic stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho changed my schedule that night?\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian\u2019s eyes narrowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou called me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI call you every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me to meet you at the warehouse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian stared at him.<\/p>\n
Dominic remembered the evening clearly now.<\/p>\n
Julian had called at 10:06.<\/p>\n
Emergency.<\/p>\n
Shipping problem.<\/p>\n
Meet me at the river warehouse.<\/p>\n
Dominic changed routes.<\/p>\n
Twenty minutes later, another vehicle forced his car into a concrete barrier.<\/p>\n
Julian never arrived at the warehouse.<\/p>\n
At the hospital, he claimed the problem had resolved before Dominic got there.<\/p>\n
Dominic had forgotten that detail beneath pain, surgery, medication, and weeks of recovery.<\/p>\n
Now it screamed at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou sent me there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cDominic, stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know anyone would attack you.\u201d<\/p>\n
That wasn\u2019t a denial.<\/p>\n
Vincent heard it too.<\/p>\n
Dominic\u2019s voice became almost a whisper.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone?\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
He had made the mistake.<\/p>\n
Dominic stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just said you didn\u2019t know anyone would attack me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI misspoke.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dominic stared at his brother.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou confessed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian sat.<\/p>\n
For the first time, he looked tired.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted you out of the council meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur said he needed time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo reorganize votes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dominic laughed without humor.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you created a fake emergency.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know about the crash?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBrace?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew Arthur paid him for information.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vincent cursed.<\/p>\n
Dominic felt something worse than anger.<\/p>\n
Disappointment.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew someone inside my house was selling information and said nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it was business.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou made business and home the same thing years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words landed.<\/p>\n
Dominic couldn\u2019t entirely deny them.<\/p>\n
Julian stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur came to me six months ago. He said you controlled everything. Every company. Every vote. Every decision.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Julian Vale arrived at 7:12 the next morning. He walked into the mansion demanding answers. \u201cWhat the hell happened?\u201d Dominic watched from the library. His younger brother looked exactly as he always did: expensive coat, perfect haircut, controlled confidence. Julian was thirty-seven. Six years younger. Their father had treated Dominic like an heir and Julian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","class_list":["post-410","sr_chapter","type-sr_chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/sr_chapter\/410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/sr_chapter"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/sr_chapter"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/sr_chapter\/410\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}