Chapter 37 - Blood and Treason
"Cole!" David roared, rushing toward the heavy steel door at the base of the stairs and slamming his fists against the reinforced plating. "Open this door!"
"Don't waste your energy, Mr. Miller," Cole’s voice answered casually over the speakers. "The vault operates on a four-hour security lockdown protocol designed to protect sensitive assets during estate transitions. The local authorities have just received an automated alert reporting a violent break-in and burglary at the Vance residence by three unauthorized individuals."
"Emma is the legal administrator!" Elena shouted toward the ceiling microphone. "This is an illegal detention, Cole! I have your team disbarred by noon!"
"By noon, Counselor, my emergency injunction will have been signed by Judge Sterling—a man who owed Julian Vance his entire career," Cole countered smoothly. "The police will find Emma, her lawyer, and her ex-husband trespassing in a sealed vault, attempting to steal proprietary financial codicils. Emma’s credibility as a responsible executor will be utterly demolished."
"Why are you doing this, Cole?" Emma cried out, her voice echoing in the crimson chamber. "Julian used you! He didn't care about you! He left you alone in Switzerland while he fought his sick wars here! You're just another victim of his sickness!"
There was a long, chilling pause over the intercom. For a few seconds, only the hum of the ventilation system filled the room.
When Cole spoke again, his voice lacked its usual arrogant veneer. It was raw, sharp, and laced with genuine, festering agony.
"You think you were the only one who suffered, Emma?" Cole hissed. "You got to grow up with normal people! You had a mother who loved you, even if she couldn't keep you! You had ordinary days! I was raised by tutors hired to turn me into an unfeeling machine! Julian came to Switzerland twice a year. Do you know what he did when he visited? He tested me. If I scored ninety-eight on a corporate finance exam instead of a hundred, he locked me in the wine cellar for two days without food!"
Emma looked up, her expression shifting from anger to profound shock and horror.
"Julian made me what I am!" Cole's voice cracked with manic intensity. "He beat every ounce of weakness out of me! He told me that my twin sister was a useless, broken vessel who wasn't worth the cost of an airline ticket! He told me the Vance empire was my reward for surviving him! And now you—who did nothing, who suffered nothing in his shadow—you get to inherit it all and give it away to charity like it's pocket change?!"
"Cole..." Emma said softly, her tears spilling over. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry he did that to you."
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"Save your pity!" Cole shouted. "In four hours, the police will escort you out in handcuffs. The codicil in that safe gives me legal ownership of seventy percent of the Vance assets. You lose, Emma. Just like Julian intended."
The intercom went dead with a harsh snap.
