Marcus stared at the screen, his face a mask of disbelief and then fury. He lunged across the desk, grabbing Howard Fenn by the lapels of his suit.
“You incompetent fool!” Marcus roared, shaking the terrified accountant. “You said there was no paper trail! You said this was clean!”
Howard whimpered, trying to pull away. “I-I thought it was! I never expected… the backup!”
Julian stepped between Marcus and Howard, his arm outstretched. “Enough, Marcus. The evidence is irrefutable.”
Marcus stumbled back, his eyes wild. He swept his gaze around the room, settling on me with a malevolent glare. His scheme had unraveled, but his desperation only made him more dangerous.
“You think this changes anything?” Marcus snarled, his voice rising. “You think you’ve won?”
He pulled out his phone, tapping furiously. “This estate is mine. And if I don’t get what I want, then nobody gets anything.”
He looked directly at me. “The conservatory, Clara. Those precious rare orchids? Your life’s work?”
A cold dread seeped into my bones. My heart pounded against my ribs.
“I’m shutting off the glasshouse heating systems,” he declared, his thumb hovering over a control on his phone. “Right now. We have a hard freeze coming tonight, don’t we? Everything will die.”
A cruel smile stretched across his face. “Unless you agree to settle. Right now. Out of court. And walk away from everything.”
The thought of those delicate plants, some over a hundred years old, wilting and freezing, made my breath catch. He wasn’t bluffing. I knew he wasn’t.
Do I call Marcus’s bluff and immediately bring Attorney Pendelton into the conservatory to witness his actions? Or do I intercept Marcus inside the conservatory personally with Julian, hoping to reason with him or stop him before the damage is done?
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