Chapter 19 - JULIAN
Julian had warned me about Margaret.
Blamed Grant.
Fed me pieces of truth.
Helped expose Susan.
Because every real secret he revealed pushed attention away from the one fact that mattered.
He wanted control.
"Noah saw you," I said.
"Noah is five."
"He's also right."
Julian's jaw tightened.
"You inherited everything. Adrian was Dad's favorite. I got a job title and a seat at your table."
"So you tried to kill a child?"
"I tried to kill you."
"The tower would have crushed him too."
"Collateral damage."
Behind Julian, Owen groaned.
Still alive.
Julian turned his gun toward him.
I moved.
Not toward Julian.
Toward Sofia.
I kicked a rolling tool cart into the line of fire and pulled the girl behind an engine stand.
Shots erupted.
Grant and Mara entered from the side door.
"DROP IT!"
Julian fired toward them.
Mara returned fire.
Julian's gun flew from his hand.
He fell, clutching his shoulder.
Alive.
Sofia screamed for Elena.
I cut the ties from her wrists.
"Your mom is coming."
Owen lay bleeding on the concrete.
Mara called for medics.
I looked at her.
"You're saving him?"
"He's evidence."
I almost laughed.
Elena ran into the hangar the moment officers cleared it.
Sofia hit her like a wave.
They dropped to their knees holding each other.
I turned away.
By sunrise, Julian was in surgery under police guard.
Owen survived too.
His testimony matched the messages recovered from the burner phone.
Julian had ordered the timing change.
He had told Owen to wait until I stood on the brass star.
Noah had been bait.
Not the target.
Then Mara brought me one final piece of evidence.
The gold cufflink with my face.
Julian had taken it from my vault using Celeste's access three days before the party.
"Why leave it at the scene?" I asked.
Mara looked at me.
"To make your death look like a family message."
"From who?"
She slid over Julian's draft confession.
May you like
He planned to blame Adrian's old enemies.
Even dead, my brother was going to be used one more time.
