Behind me, Julian descended the stairs.
His arrogance was gone.
He looked small beneath the low ceiling.
“This has nothing to do with me,” he said. “Whatever my grandparents did—”
Adrian picked up a recent photograph from the table and slid it toward him.
It showed Julian entering a private warehouse.
Beside him stood Elena.
Between them was a man I recognized from news reports: Conrad Pike, the creditor who had supposedly held Julian’s business debt.
Julian’s face drained of color.
I looked at Elena.
She shook her head violently. “I don’t know anything about that.”
But the photograph showed her carrying a black document case.
Marian opened it.
Inside were duplicate corporate seals, transfer agreements, and a life-insurance policy.
The insured person was me.
The beneficiary was Julian.