Chapter 16 - The Fall of Julian Blackwood
The gun fired.
The bullet struck the ceiling.
Grace hit Julian’s arm.
Victor tackled him from the side.
Helen screamed.
Adrian and federal agents burst through the doors.
Julian broke free.
He ran toward the upper balcony.
Adrian followed.
Grace untied Helen.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
Victor stumbled.
Blood covered his shirt.
The bullet had grazed his shoulder.
Agents rushed toward him.
Above them, Adrian cornered Julian beside the balcony rail.
Julian laughed.
“You always had everything.”
Adrian stared at him.
“This was about jealousy?”
“It was about ownership.”
Julian’s face twisted.
“Richard stole my father’s company.”
“Charles stole his life.”
“Eleanor protected Richard.”
“Vanessa inherited Charles.”
“And you inherited the throne.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“So you killed Martin.”
“Yes.”
“You sabotaged the gala cameras.”
“Yes.”
“You sent someone after Grace.”
Julian smiled.
“She complicated everything.”
Grace reached the stairs.
“And my father?”
Julian looked down.
“I was twenty.”
Grace stopped.
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Victor shouted from below.
“Charles.”
Silence.
Victor’s voice cracked.
“Charles ordered Thomas’s brakes cut.”
Julian’s face hardened.
Victor continued.
“Martin followed him.”
“But Charles killed him.”
Grace felt twenty-two years of anger suddenly acquire a face.
A dead man.
No courtroom.
No confession.
No punishment.
Just truth arriving too late.
Julian moved suddenly.
He tried to shove Adrian over the rail.
Adrian caught the railing.
Grace grabbed Julian’s jacket.
Agents rushed upstairs.
Julian slipped.
For one terrible second he dangled over the ballroom.
Adrian caught his wrist.
Julian stared up.
“You should let me fall.”
Adrian tightened his grip.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because my family has hidden enough bodies.”
Agents pulled Julian up.
Handcuffs closed around his wrists.
Grace watched him being taken away.
There was no satisfaction.
Only exhaustion.
Then Victor called her name.
Grace turned.
He held an envelope.
“Thomas gave me this before he died.”
Grace stared.
“You had something from my father all this time?”
Victor nodded.
“And it was never meant for you.”
May you like
He looked toward Eleanor.
“It was meant for her.”
