Chapter 6 - The Terms of Surrender
Daniel stepped out into the cathedral’s side hallway, instructing Marcus to keep Leo inside under armed guard.
Julianna was handcuffed to an ornate wooden bench, her ripped lace veil thrown haphazardly on the floor beside her. Two patrol officers stood nearby, their expressions stern. When she saw Daniel approach, her lips twisted into a venomous, triumphant smile despite her disheveled state.
“You think you’re so smart, Daniel,” she sneered. “You think popping a balloon in front of your wealthy friends solves your problem?”
Daniel stopped two feet away from her, staring down with eyes as cold as granite. “Victor Cole is dying, Julianna. And you threw away your entire life for a dead man’s revenge.”
Her smirk vanished. For the first time, genuine panic flared in her eyes. “How do you know that name?”
“Leo gave me the files,” Daniel said evenly. “He’s smarter than you could ever comprehend. You’re facing felony extortion, conspiracy, wire fraud, and witness tampering. You will spend the next twenty-five years in a state facility.”
Julianna let out a wild, breathless laugh. “You don’t have a clue, do you? Victor doesn’t care about the shares. He doesn’t even care about your money. That was just my cut.”
Daniel narrowed his eyes. “Then what does he want?”
Julianna leaned forward, the clinking of her handcuffs sharp in the hallway. “He blames you for everything. His illness, his family abandoning him, his ruin. He doesn’t want your money, Daniel. He wants Claire’s safe-deposit box. He wants the ledger she took the night she died.”
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Daniel felt the air leave his lungs. “Claire didn’t have a ledger.”
“Oh, she did,” Julianna whispered, her eyes glittering with malicious satisfaction. “Why do you think she was driving on that mountain road in the middle of a blizzard, Daniel? She wasn’t coming back from her sister’s house. She was meeting Victor. And when she tried to run from him, he ran her off the road.”
