Chapter 17: A Phantom in the Penthouse
Two days later, the penthouse felt less like a home and more like a military bunker. Marcus and his team had locked down every entrance, installed biometric scanners on the elevators, and swept the entire building for listening devices.
Maya tried to maintain a sense of normalcy. She sat in the master bedroom, surrounded by swatches of silk and lace. Julian had insisted on moving forward with the wedding planning, claiming it was the ultimate act of defiance. A legendary designer had been brought to the penthouse to design a gown that no one could tear apart.
As the designer’s assistants pinned a breathtaking sweep of ivory satin around her waist, the bedroom door clicked shut.
Maya looked up at the mirror. The assistants were gone. Standing in the doorway, having slipped past a dozen heavily armed guards, was a man in an impeccably tailored charcoal suit. His silver hair was slicked back, and his dark eyes were locked onto Maya's reflection.
It was the man from the photograph. Richard Sterling.
Maya’s breath caught in her throat, but she forced herself to stand completely still. "How did you get in here?"
"I designed the security protocols for this building twenty-two years ago, Arabella," Richard said, his voice a smooth, cultured baritone that sent a wave of nausea through her stomach. "Marcus is a good man, but he relies too much on digital locks. Digital locks can be overridden by the man who holds the master code."
He stepped further into the room, looking around with casual disdain. "Julian has ruined the décor. It used to be much more... sophisticated."
"You tried to kill me," Maya said, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
Richard sighed, waving a hand dismissively. "Oh, Arabella. If I wanted you dead, you would have died on that highway. I cut your brakes to send a message. You are a smart girl. You survived the foster system, you outmaneuvered Arthur, and you crushed Harrison. I’m proud of you. You have my blood, after all."
"I have nothing of yours," Maya spat, turning to face him. "You abandoned my mother. You let her mourn a ghost while you hid like a coward!"
Richard’s eyes flashed with a sudden, chilling darkness. "I built this empire! I made the hard choices. When the feds were closing in, I had to disappear to protect the wealth. I left Eleanor the company, and I left her a replacement son so she wouldn't lose her mind entirely. I orchestrated Julian's adoption from the shadows."
Maya froze. "You... you chose Julian?"
"Of course I did," Richard smiled a razor-thin smile. "I needed a boy smart enough to run the company, but indebted enough to step down when the time came. But then you returned. The lost princess. You ruined twenty years of planning by surviving."
He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a folded legal document, tossing it onto the velvet settee.
"Sign the transfer of your shares back to me, Arabella," Richard commanded softly. "Step down as Co-Chairman. Marry your little orphan boy, take a billion dollars, and go live on an island. If you refuse, I will not only destroy Julian’s reputation, but I will expose the illegal bribes Arthur and Harrison used to build this company. The SEC will seize everything. The Sterling Empire will burn to ash."
Maya looked at the paper, then up at the monster who had sired her. "Julian will kill you if he finds you in here."
"Julian is currently in a meeting with the board on the eightieth floor," Richard checked his gold Patek Philippe watch. "He won't be back for an hour. You have until tomorrow night. Sign the papers, or watch everything your mother loves burn."
May you like
With that, Richard turned and slipped out the hidden servant's door behind the armoire—a door Maya hadn't even known existed.
When Julian returned an hour later, he found Maya sitting on the floor in her wedding dress, staring at the transfer papers, a terrifying, cold resolve hardening in her eyes.
