Chapter 13 - Shadows at the Gates
The Vance estate was undergoing rapid repairs. Glaziers replaced the shattered French doors, groundskeepers cleared the lake of debris, and engineers rebuilt the electronic grid with fiber-optic redundancies.
In the sun-drenched breakfast pavilion overlooking the rose garden, five-year-old Noah happily covered his pancakes in maple syrup. Elena sat beside him, patiently wiping a smudge of butter from his cheek, while Ethan read through incoming security briefs across the table.
"Elena," Noah asked, kicking his small legs beneath the chair, "are you going to teach me how to build tunnels like your daddy did?"
"I will," Elena smiled, brushing his chestnut curls. "He taught me that a good wall isn't built to keep people out. It's built to keep the people you love safe."
Ethan looked up from his tablet, his eyes softening as he watched the two of them. For years after his wife Claire passed, the estate had felt like an armed fortress—cold, hollow, and defensive. In twenty-four hours, Elena’s presence had transformed it back into a home.
Suddenly, Marcus appeared at the terrace entrance, his expression grim. "Ethan. We have an unannounced visitor at the main gate. She came in a diplomatic transport."
Ethan set his coffee cup down. "Who?"
"Genevieve Vance-DuPont," Marcus answered. "Your aunt. She flew in from Geneva the moment the police reports cleared."
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Ethan’s jaw tightened. Genevieve was Robert Vance’s ruthless older sister—the matriarch who controlled the European banking branches of the family trust and had opposed Ethan’s marriage to Claire years ago.
"Bring her in," Ethan said calmly. "And Marcus—make sure the nursery guard remains doubled."
