Part 2: The sound of rushing water echoed through the luxurious mansion as the pregnant woman fell into the indoor pool. Without a second thought, the man jumped in after her and reached for her.

Thirty floors above the city, rain lashed against the panoramic windows of the Vance Tower executive boardroom.

Julian stood at the head of the conference table, staring down at the thick leather-bound dossier prepared by his private investigator. Across from him sat Arthur Pendelton, the elderly family attorney who had drafted his late father’s estate documents thirty years ago.

"Arthur, tell me everything my father kept off the public record," Julian commanded, slamming his palm onto the mahogany surface.

Pendelton adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses, looking nervous. "Julian, your father was a brilliant man, but he was paranoid. When he brought Evelyn’s mother into his life after your mother passed, he suspected that Evelyn was not his biological daughter."

Julian froze. "What?"

"Two months before his death, he secretly commissioned a DNA profile," Pendelton whispered, opening his briefcase and sliding a yellowed envelope across the table. "The results confirmed it. Evelyn shares zero Vance DNA. She is the biological daughter of Marcus Sterling."

The name hit the room like a thunderbolt. Marcus Sterling—the ruthless head of Sterling Capital, the Vance Group’s fiercest corporate rival, a man who had tried to bankrupt Julian’s father for two decades.

"My father knew Evelyn was a plant?" Julian’s voice was dangerously low.

"He suspected she was being groomed by Sterling to infiltrate the family," Pendelton explained. "That is why he drafted the bloodline clause. The Vance Empire can only pass to a confirmed biological descendant of Arthur Vance Sr. That means you, Julian. And your children with Clara."

"And if Clara lost the babies before my birthday..." Julian pieced the puzzle together, a sick feeling rising in his throat.

"If you have no living heir by midnight on your thirty-second birthday, the default fallback clause is triggered," Pendelton sighed. "Under the old terms, the estate would temporarily transition to the eldest stepchild recognized under civil law—Evelyn—until external audits are completed. In that window of time, Marcus Sterling could liquidate our core assets and swallow the Vance Group whole."

Julian pulled out his phone. The screen lit up with a notification from the hospital security feed.

The security monitor showed an unauthorized black sedan parking in the private ambulance bay of St. Jude’s Hospital.

Julian’s breath hitched. "Arthur, summon the board for an emergency session tonight at eight. Bring these DNA documents."

"Where are you going, Julian?"