Julian’s frantic mask completely slipped. “What did you do?”
“I protected what you tried to murder me for.”
Victoria hadn’t been naive. The moment she discovered the secret insurance policy days earlier, she had hired private investigator Marcus Reed, installed hidden security cameras in the home’s common areas, and tasked her attorney, Sarah Jenkins, with conducting a confidential audit of the company’s accounts.
Five days after the incident, Marcus handed Victoria a dossier that blew the case wide open.
Julian was having an affair with a twenty-six-year-old social media influencer named Serena Hale. He had purchased her a luxury downtown penthouse, a new sports car, and high-end jewelry through four separate shell companies.
His total embezzlement exceeded $8 million.
Yet the financial theft wasn’t the worst of it.
Serena was pregnant.
In recorded phone calls, Julian explicitly promised Serena that they would soon be living together in Victoria’s estate. He boasted that he would collect the $1.5 million insurance payout, liquidate a major chunk of the real estate firm, and present Serena’s baby as the sole heir to the empire.
“My mother will have the stairs prepped,” Julian’s recorded voice sneered over the speaker. “Victoria walks down half-asleep for tea every night. At eight months along, she won’t be able to break her fall.”
Another recording revealed an even darker detail.
“What if she survives the fall?” Serena had asked on the call.
“From that height? Unlikely,” Julian responded coldly. “And even if she survives, the baby won’t. Without the kid, taking full legal control of her assets during her recovery will be child’s play.”
Victoria turned off the recording, her hands shaking violently.
This wasn’t just an unfaithful husband or a greedy mother-in-law. This was a premeditated conspiracy to commit murder, collect an insurance payout, and hijack an enterprise valued at over $200 million.
That same evening, Victoria convened an emergency board meeting alongside her CFO, top directors, and her legal team. They preserved server logs, wire transfers, and internal emails before permanently revoking Julian’s digital credentials.
Julian, still arrogantly believing he controlled the board, found himself drowning in personal debts and threats from underground lenders he had approached to cover Serena’s lifestyle. He showed up to the emergency meeting in a wrinkled suit, trying to project his usual executive authority.
“I am the Chief Executive Officer,” he declared, slamming his leather binder on the table. “No one has the authority to freeze my accounts!”
Victoria walked into the boardroom wearing a deep wine-red maternity dress, holding a legal folder under her arm. Instead of sitting beside him, she took her place at the head of the table.
“These were never your accounts, Julian.”
Sarah distributed copies of the forensic audit to the board. Page after page detailed fake vendor invoices, shell entities, and wire transfers routed directly into accounts managed by Serena. Every single dollar was accounted for.
“There’s… there’s a logical business explanation for this,” Julian stammered, his face turning pale.
“Of course there is,” Victoria said. “You embezzled $8 million to finance your mistress.”
“She manipulated me!” he blurted out.
“Did she also manipulate you into taking out a $1.5 million policy on my life?”
A suffocating silence descended on the room.
Victoria signaled the AV technician. The main wall monitor lit up with the high-definition security footage from her home. Eleanor was clearly seen walking into the foyer, pulling out the black canister, and thoroughly greasing the marble steps.
Next, a recording from earlier that evening played: Julian handing the canister to his mother in the kitchen, whispering, “Don’t use too much. It has to look like Victoria spilled something.”
Julian bolted from his chair. “That footage is fabricated! She’s trying to frame me to keep my company!”
“This company was entirely mine before I ever met you, Julian,” Victoria said calmly. “You mistook my grace for stupidity.”
The double doors of the boardroom swung open.
Detectives from the Austin Police Department stepped inside with active arrest warrants for Julian Vance. He was charged with attempted capital murder, grand larceny, corporate fraud, and conspiracy.
Julian dropped to his knees, sobbing. “Victoria, please! Think of our baby! Our child needs a father!”
She looked down at him without a single tear. “A father protects his child. You calculated how much cash you’d collect if your child died in the womb.”
As officers slapped handcuffs onto his wrists, Julian’s phone rang incessantly on the table. It was Serena.
A detective tapped the speakerphone button.
“Julian, police officers are at the penthouse!” Serena shrieked over the line. “They’re seizing the cars and freezing the accounts! What did you do?!”
“Get the offshore financial documents and drive out of state immediately!” Julian yelled into the phone. “I’ll meet you there!”
