Chapter 3 - The Secret Half-Brother
Adrian raised his hands in the air, trying to show he meant no harm.
He swore to Marissa that he had no idea what Arthur Vance was doing.
He told her he had overheard her asking for formula money and had simply wanted to help without embarrassing her.
Marissa stared into his eyes, desperately trying to determine if her billionaire boss was lying.
Slowly, her hands began to shake, and she dropped the knife onto the linoleum floor.
She collapsed into a broken kitchen chair and buried her face in her hands, sobbing quietly.
Adrian pulled up another chair and asked her to tell him the truth about Julian.
Marissa wiped her eyes and explained that Julian was his father's illegitimate son, a secret hidden from the entire world.
Julian had never wanted a share of the Whitmore family fortune.
He had only wanted to work as a structural engineer for the company his biological father had built.
But four years ago, Julian was assigned to inspect the steel framework of the new Whitmore flagship skyscraper.
He discovered that the company was using fatally flawed, substandard steel to save millions of dollars.
Julian had gathered all the metallurgical reports into a thick blue envelope and threatened to expose the fraud.
Two days later, Julian was crushed to death in a suspicious accident at the construction site.
Arthur Vance had immediately shown up at Marissa's door with a brutal ultimatum.
She had to sign a new non-disclosure agreement every single month, keeping the blue envelope of evidence locked away.
In exchange, Arthur paid her an insulting stipend of exactly twenty-eight dollars a week.
It was a psychological torture designed to keep her entirely dependent, terrified, and too poor to ever hire a lawyer.
Adrian felt completely sick to his stomach as he realized his family empire was built on blood.
He promised Marissa that he was going to destroy Arthur and ensure her baby was safe forever.
He reached into his pocket to pull out his phone, intending to call the authorities.
The phone screen lit up before he could even dial a number.
It was an automated security alert from his private offshore bank.
Adrian opened the message and felt the color drain completely from his face.
Every single one of his personal and corporate bank accounts had just been permanently frozen.
May you like
A second message arrived immediately after the first.
It was from the Boston Police Department, stating there was an active warrant out for his arrest.
