Chapter 5 - The Battle Lines of Bellevue
The news of Julian's midnight raid on the hospital and the subsequent transfer of Claire and the boys reached Eleanor Vance by dawn.
At 8:00 a.m., Julian’s phone rang. The caller ID was his mother’s personal secretary, but when he answered, Eleanor’s voice came through, cold and sharp as a scalpel.
"You have made a grave tactical error, Julian," Eleanor said, her voice no longer carrying the slurred weakness of her stroke. "The board of directors is already questioning why you missed the morning briefing. And your little... stunt with the hospital records has not gone unnoticed. Dr. Sterling is panic-stricken. He is threatening to go to the medical board if we don't protect him."
Julian stood on the balcony of the hospital wing, the cold morning wind biting through his shirt. "Let him go to the board, Mother. In fact, encourage him. Because when the federal investigators look into his clinic’s funding, they will find the path leads directly to your personal accounts. I’ve already sent the digital copies of the transaction records to the District Attorney."
A sharp intake of breath came over the line. "You would ruin your own family's reputation for that girl? For two children who might not even be yours?"
"They are mine, Eleanor," Julian said, his voice dropping to a dangerous, low register. "And if you ever refer to Claire as 'that girl' again, I will release the rest of the files. The ones concerning the tax evasion schemes you used to fund the Vance charity gala in 2024. I know where the bodies are buried because I spent five years helping you bury them. Do not test me."
"You are a Vance, Julian! You cannot destroy us without destroying yourself!" Eleanor screamed, her composure completely shattered. "If you do this, the board will oust you by Friday afternoon! You will lose the company!"
"Let them oust me," Julian said. "Vance Industries is just a collection of buildings and patents. My sons are my blood. I’m hanging up now, Mother. Do not call this number again."
He ended the call, his hand shaking slightly as he slipped the phone back into his pocket. He knew his mother wasn't bluffing about the board. The Vance board of directors was filled with old-money allies of Eleanor who valued stability and profit over everything else. If they smelled a scandal, they would attempt to force a morals clause to strip Julian of his voting shares.
"Julian?"
He turned to see Marcus standing in the doorway of the balcony.
"Sir, we have a problem," Marcus said, his face grim. "A private investigator named Henderson has been spotted in the lobby downstairs. He’s one of Eleanor’s regulars. He’s trying to get access to the visitor logs for this floor."
"Did he get them?" Julian demanded.
"No, sir. We had the hospital security team escort him out, but he’s parked across the street. He’s taking photos of everyone entering the building. If he gets a photo of Claire or the boys, Eleanor will use it to leak a story to the press about an 'illegitimate child scandal' to drive down the stock price before the board meeting on Friday."
Julian’s jaw clenched. His mother was trying to use the media to force his hand, to make the scandal so noisy that he would have to abandon Claire to save the company.
"We need to pre-empt her," Julian said, a cold, strategic light coming into his eyes. "Call Thomas Higgins at the Seattle Times. Tell him I want to do an exclusive, live interview on Thursday evening. In my private apartment."
May you like
Marcus blinked. "An interview, sir? About what?"
"About my family," Julian said, looking back through the glass door at Claire, who was currently helping Leo drink a glass of orange juice. "About the truth of my marriage, the corruption of my mother’s medical charity, and the birth of my sons. If Eleanor wants a war in the press, I’m going to give her a nuclear winter."
