Chapter 2 - The Devil’s Contract
The night stretched on, quiet and tense, as Julian Vance outlined his proposition.
"Derek Hale is a parasite," Julian said, his voice a low rumble. "He approached my firm a week ago, begging for an acquisition. He promised that a massive influx of capital from his 'wife's estate' was imminent."
I closed my eyes, the sting of betrayal fresh all over again. Derek had been planning my demise before the car even hit me.
"I won't let him have my grandmother's legacy," I whispered fiercely.
"And you won't have to," Julian replied. "But your trust has a strict clause, Elena. It vests upon your marriage, or upon your death to your named executor. Right now, that is Derek."
I tried to sit up, a sharp pain shooting through my spine. Julian instinctively reached out, placing a firm, warm hand on my shoulder to steady me.
"I need to change my will," I gasped.
"You need to do more than that," Julian corrected. "If you change the will now, Derek will know you're onto him. He will run, and he will take whatever hidden assets he's already drained. If you want true revenge, you don't just cut him off. You lock him in a cage of his own making."
I looked up into those icy blue eyes. "How?"
"Marry me," Julian said.
The words hung in the sterile air of the ICU.
"Excuse me?" I breathed.
"Your trust vests upon marriage," Julian explained calmly, as if discussing a stock trade. "If you marry me, the funds lock into a joint corporate entity that I control legally, but you control practically. Derek gets nothing. Sloane gets nothing."
"Why would you do this?" I asked, suspicious. "You're a billionaire. You don't need my trust fund."
Julian's expression darkened. "Because Derek Hale stole proprietary blueprints from my firm three years ago to launch his own career. He thinks I didn't notice. I've been waiting for the perfect moment to crush him to dust."
He leaned in closer. "I want his professional ruin. You want his personal ruin. We are a perfect match, Elena."
A slow, dark smile crept onto my face.
May you like
The girl who always played by the rules had died in that car crash.
"Draw up the papers, Mr. Vance," I said. "We have a wedding to plan."
