Chapter 3 - Blood, Gold, and an Unfinished PuzzleJulian dropped to his knees.
He didn't care about the marble.
He didn't care about his suit.
He simply stared at Maria.
His whole childhood seemed to rush toward him at once.
The orphanage.
The unanswered questions.
The recurring dream of a woman's voice singing somewhere beyond a locked door.
A warmth he had never been able to remember.
“Mom?”
The word sounded strange.
Almost impossible.
Maria covered her mouth.
Then she pulled him into her arms.
Julian broke.
Thirty-two years of controlled emotions collapsed in seconds.
He cried against the shoulder of a woman he had spent his entire life believing was a stranger.
Victoria watched them.
Her face hardened.
“This is ridiculous.”
Julian slowly stood.
He kept one arm around Maria.
Then he looked at Victoria.
“The wedding is canceled.”
She stared at him.
“You don't mean that.”
“I do.”
“You're throwing away everything because of her?”
Julian's expression became cold.
“No.”
He glanced at Maria.
“For the first time, I'm choosing something that isn't about money.”
Victoria screamed.
She grabbed a crystal vase and threw it against the wall.
The explosion of glass echoed beneath the chandelier.
Julian didn't flinch.
He walked away with Maria.
Behind them, Victoria stood alone in the shattered room.
But as the elevator doors closed, her expression changed.
The tears disappeared.
The panic vanished.
And something much darker emerged.
She took out her phone.
“It's happened,” she whispered.
A man's voice answered.
“Did he see the photograph?”
“Yes.”
“Then we have a problem.”
Victoria looked toward the closed elevator.
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“No,” she said.
“We have a war.”
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