Chapter 5 - The Serpent in the Family
The name Richard Vance echoed through the quiet hospital suite like a crack of thunder.
Sarah let out a sharp, frightened gasp, her cardiac monitor immediately beeping at an accelerated, alarming rate. Emma instinctively pulled Lily closer, sensing the sudden surge of danger in the room.
Julian stood up straight, his tall frame radiating a cold, lethal fury.
“Richard,” Julian said softly, the name tasting like poison on his tongue.
Richard Vance was Julian’s paternal uncle—a ruthless, cunning man who controlled a thirty-percent minority stake in Vance Global Logistics. For eight years, Richard had been locked in a bitter board battle against Julian, desperate to wrest control of the family empire.
Julian turned to Dr. Sterling. “Stabilize her. Make sure no one enters this room without my personal security clearance.”
“Understood, Mr. Vance,” Dr. Sterling said, quickly adjusting Sarah’s oxygen levels.
Julian looked down at Emma. He placed a heavy, reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Stay with your mother and sister, Emma. No one is taking you anywhere. I promise.”
Julian walked out of the suite, accompanied by four armed security guards, heading down to the tenth-floor private reception lounge.
Standing in the center of the plush lounge was Richard Vance.
In his late fifties, Richard was a impeccably dressed man with silver hair, cold blue eyes, and a sharp, calculating smile that never quite reached his face. Beside him stood a timid female social worker holding a manila folder, and two private security contractors in gray suits.
“Julian,” Richard said smoothly, spreading his hands in a theatrical gesture of familial concern. “What a tragic situation. I heard through my hospital sources that you were creating quite a scene in the ER over some destitute family.”
Julian stopped six feet away, his arms folded across his broad chest, his expression impassive as granite.
“What are you doing here, Richard?” Julian demanded cleanly.
Richard pulled a white handkerchief from his breast pocket and daintily patted his mustache. “Doing my civic duty, dear nephew. The state received a report regarding two abandoned minors—Emma and Lily Riley. It appears their mother is an indigent woman with an unstable history. As a member of the board of the Vance Children’s Foundation, I felt it my duty to oversee their transfer to an appropriate state facility.”
Julian let out a low, dangerous laugh—a sound that made the social worker step back nervously.
“Don't play games with me, Richard,” Julian said, his gray eyes narrowing into sharp slits. “You don't care about children. You didn't even care about your own daughter when she moved to London.”
Richard’s fake smile vanished, replaced by a cold, sharp sneer. “I care about the law, Julian. You cannot simply claim two random children from the street because of some misguided, sentimental guilt over what happened in Aspen.”
“Sarah Riley is the woman who saved my life in Aspen,” Julian spat, every word cutting through the room like a razor.
“I know exactly who she is,” Richard replied smoothly, stepping closer. “She was a low-class employee who fled the scene of an accident. And more importantly, Julian... she is a liability to Vance Global.”
Richard leaned in, his voice dropping into a sinister whisper intended only for Julian’s ears.
“I know what you’ve been doing, nephew,” Richard sneered. “You’ve been searching for her for eight years. You think she’s some innocent angel. But if you try to bring her or those bastard children into the Vance family, I will drag her through every tabloid in the country. I will expose her past, her debts, her poverty, and I will use it to prove to the board that you are mentally unfit to serve as CEO.”
Julian stared at his uncle. His fist clenched so hard his knuckles turned white, his signet ring biting deep into his palm.
He realized now why Sarah had fled Aspen. He realized why she had lived in hiding, enduring grinding poverty, cleaning offices for minimum wage rather than seeking his help.
Richard had threatened her.
Eight years ago, while Julian was recovering in an ICU from the avalanche, Richard Vance had cornered a young, terrified Sarah Riley. He had told her that if she ever contacted Julian, he would accuse her of negligence in the avalanche that killed Julian’s sister, ensuring she spent the rest of her life in a federal prison.
Sarah hadn't run to save herself. She had run to protect Julian from a family war—and to protect her unborn child.
A sudden, earth-shattering realization struck Julian like a bolt of lightning.
2018.
The winter of 2018 was eight years ago.
Emma was ten years old.
Julian’s breath hitched in his throat. His mind raced back through the timeline—the weeks he had spent with Sarah in the cozy caretaker’s lodge in Aspen before the avalanche, the nights they had shared away from the ruthless pressures of his family.
Emma was auburn-haired. She had his sharp chin. She had his unyielding, stubborn gray-black eyes.
Julian’s heart hammered against his ribs so violently he felt dizzy.
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Emma wasn't just the daughter of the woman who saved his life.
Emma was his daughter.
