Chapter 4 - The Interrogation
By 4:00 AM, the primary holding parlor of the Vance estate had been converted into an official police interrogation site.
Victoria Sterling sat behind a mahogany card table, her wool blanket discarded, her hair pulled back into a tight, pristine bun. Her legal counsel—a high-priced corporate defense attorney named Harrison Vance (no relation to Julian)—sat beside her, his briefcase open, looking intensely uncomfortable.
Detective Miller sat across from them. Julian stood near the cold fireplace in the shadows, his arms folded across his chest, refusing to sit.
"Detective," Harrison Vance began smoothly, tapping his expensive fountain pen against his notepad. "This entire scenario is an unmitigated disaster born of a tragic accident. My client was startled by an intruder in an unlit area of the home. She acted in self-defense against a staff member who was clearly trespassing in restricted quarters—"
"Save it, Harrison," Miller cut in, tossing a manila folder onto the table. "We have high-definition infrared footage with spatial audio. Your client struck Maria Santos from behind with a heavy silver weapon while Santos was completely defenseless. Then she dragged her across broken glass to dispose of her body in a sub-basement passage."
Victoria didn't flinch. She adjusted her diamond engagement ring, looking directly at Julian in the shadows.
"I was protecting our family, Julian," Victoria said softly, her voice cool and entirely unbothered by the police presence. "Maria was snooping. She was poking her nose where it didn't belong."
"Where it didn't belong?" Julian stepped out from the shadows, his voice a low, terrifying rumble. "You mean the secret cell beneath my house? The cell where you kept my brother chained like an animal for six years?"
Harrison Vance cleared his throat loudly. "My client maintains her right to silence regarding any unverified structural anomalies found within the estate—"
"Shut up, Harrison!" Victoria snapped, turning her sharp, dark eyes on her attorney before looking back at Julian.
A small, chilling smile spread across her red lips.
"Six years ago, Julian," Victoria said, leaning back in her chair, her tone dropping into a conversational, almost mocking pitch. "Your brilliant, beloved little brother discovered something he shouldn't have. He found out that my father’s hedge fund was laundering money through your family’s maritime shipping routes."
Julian’s breath hitched.
"Leo was going to go to the Federal Maritime Commission," Victoria continued, her voice entirely devoid of remorse. "He was going to destroy my father, my family’s name, and the entire Sterling empire. He was an idealistic, stupid little artist who thought truth actually mattered in the real world."
"So you blew up his boat," Julian said, his fists clenching until his nails cut into his palms.
"I didn't blow it up," Victoria corrected smoothly. "My father’s security team stage-managed the explosion. We found a body from a local morgue that matched his general height and blood type, placed it on the vessel, and set the charge off two miles offshore."
"And Leo?"
"Leo was far too valuable to kill immediately," Victoria said, her smile widening into something truly demonic. "He knew the master encryption codes to your father’s offshore trust accounts—accounts that contained over two hundred million dollars in untraceable capital. Accounts my father needed to cover his liquidity shortfalls."
She stood up slowly, her hands resting gracefully on the table, ignoring her attorney’s frantic attempts to grab her arm.
"We brought him here," Victoria whispered. "To your house. Right under your nose, Julian. You walked over his head every single night while you mourned him. You drank my wine, you held my hand, you asked me to marry you... while your darling brother was six feet below your Italian marble floors, refusing to give up the passwords."
Detective Miller stared at her in absolute horror, his hand drifting toward his holster. "Where is he, Victoria? Where is Leo Vance right now?"
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Victoria looked at her diamond ring, then back at Julian, her eyes dancing with dark amusement.
"He was down there until ten o'clock tonight," she said softly. "When my father’s men realized Maria had heard the knocking... they moved him."
