The Midnight Inheritance: How My Business Partner Framed Me at the Vanderbilt Gala
👉 Previous Decision: You chose to drive to the diner OR infiltrate Silas Finch’s office.
Julian returned to the Vanderbilt estate just as the first grey light of dawn broke through the clouds, painting the rain-soaked grounds in muted tones. The storm had begun to subside, but the tension in the air was palpable.
As he entered the grand hallway, his path was immediately blocked. Aunt Beatrice Vanderbilt stood there, her face a mask of stern disapproval, flanked by two burly estate guards. Her gaze was as sharp as cut glass.
“Mr. O’Connell,” she said, her voice icy, “you’re a trespasser. You’ve been declared a fugitive. My guards have orders to detain you.”
Julian braced himself, his hand instinctively gripping the evidence he had secured. But then, something unexpected happened. Beatrice stepped forward, her hand moving with a surprising swiftness. Not to signal the guards, but to press a cold, metallic object into Julian’s palm.
It was a keycard. Marcus’s private briefcase.
Beatrice’s rigid posture softened fractionally. “Marcus Adler is a snake,” she stated, her voice tight with suppressed fury. “I overheard him, an hour ago, on the phone with his lawyer. Bragging about his plans for me.”
Her eyes hardened. “He called me a ‘senile old hag.’ Said once he secured the $120 million trust, he’d dump me in a nursing home in Boca, cutting off my entire allowance. He plans to poison my reputation, too, Clara’s by extension, painting us as too ’emotional’ to inherit.”
She looked at Julian, her pride wounded, her family dignity shattered by Marcus’s casual cruelty. “I’m a Vanderbilt. No outsider, especially not a mercenary like Adler, will ever disgrace this family further.”
She gave the guards a curt nod. “Stand down. Mr. O’Connell is with me.”
The guards, accustomed to her authority, reluctantly lowered their weapons. Beatrice turned to Julian, her eyes holding a new, fierce resolve. “Tell me your plan. We will bring him down. For Arthur. For Clara. For the Vanderbilt name.”
Julian felt a surge of relief, followed by a deeper sense of purpose. An unexpected ally, and a powerful one, had just turned against Marcus. The battle was no longer his alone.
➡️ Read Chapter 15 to continue the story
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