Chapter 9 - THE TRUE HEIR.
Clara's phone buzzed with an incoming email marked “URGENT—HIGH PRIORITY.”
It was from the senior partners of her corporate law firm.
While the FBI was raiding the house, Clara’s colleagues had been working behind the scenes.
The email contained a certified legal injunction.
Because Julian was now under federal investigation for attempting to harm his own child, the prenuptial agreement had been suspended under its felony clause.
Furthermore, guardianship of the billion-dollar trust had immediately defaulted to Clara, Leo’s only competent and protective parent.
Clara walked out of the nursery, holding her sleeping baby securely in her arms.
She descended the grand marble staircase.
The lavish charity gala had become an enormous crime scene.
Wealthy donors were being held for questioning as federal agents collected evidence from the ballroom.
Julian sat in the back of an FBI vehicle, sobbing with his head in his hands.
His powerful mother, the supposedly untouchable Sterling matriarch, was escorted through the front doors in handcuffs.
The local news cameras, originally invited to cover the gala, were now broadcasting her humiliation across the country.
The matriarch glared at Clara with venomous eyes.
“You will never keep our money,” the older woman hissed.
Clara stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked down at the ruined aristocrat.
“It was never your money. It belongs to my son.”
Clara turned her back on the furious woman, feeling a profound sense of satisfaction.
The oppressive weight of the mansion finally seemed to lift.
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She walked into the family's private study to rest.
But as she placed Leo gently on the leather sofa, the mansion's smart hub flickered back to life.
