Chapter 3 - The Fortress at the Point
Julian’s estate wasn’t a home; it was a compound disguised as a rustic New England lodge. High-definition perimeter cameras, motion-activated floodlights, and heavy iron gates concealed behind thick spruce trees made it an impenetrable fortress.
Inside, it smelled of old leather, roasting coffee, and burning birchwood.
While the border collie—which Julian casually named 'Anchor'—slept soundly on a plush rug by the massive stone fireplace, Julian sat at a massive mahogany desk littered with encrypted laptops and satellite phones.
“Your stepmother didn't just hire local PIs,” Julian said, spinning a monitor around to face me. On the screen was a live feed of my rented cabin, currently surrounded by two black SUVs idling in the fog. “She hired a dirty corporate recovery team. They broke into your cabin ten minutes after you left for work. They’re tearing the place apart looking for your laptop and your financial ledgers.”
“My ledgers!” I gasped, leaping to my feet. “My father’s original handwritten corporate distribution records are buried under the floorboards in the pantry! If they find those, they can forge his signature on the asset transfer!”
“Relax,” Julian said calmly, typing a rapid sequence of commands into his keyboard. “They won't find anything. My security detail intercepted your pantry floorboards two weeks ago when I realized who my new neighbor was. The documents are safe in a Swiss vault. What they are going to find is a carefully planted trail of fabricated medical records that your stepmother paid a corrupt Ironvale psychiatrist to forge.”
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I stared at him, bewildered. “Why are you helping me? Men like you... you don't just rescue runaway bakers out of the goodness of your heart.”
Julian leaned back in his leather chair, his piercing eyes fixing on mine. “Evelyn Cross has been laundering money through shell companies tied to a syndicate I spent the last ten years dismantling. She thinks she’s using the legal system to steal your inheritance. What she doesn’t know is that your father’s estate was the primary collateral backing the loans she took out to buy her way into high society. If she takes you down, she exposes accounts I need frozen. We want the exact same thing, Elena. We just need to spring the trap.”
