Chapter 3 - MY BROTHER'S WATCH
Julian came into the breakfast room the next morning as if the house belonged to him. He wore a pale shirt, dark trousers, and my watch. He had polished it. That detail angered me more than it should have. He had taken something my father gave me and cared for it as if possession had turned theft into inheritance.
Victoria followed with coffee.
“Daniel,” she said, “this has gone far enough. Maya is making accusations because she's frightened about the baby.”
“Sit down.”
“I will not be ordered around in my own son's house.”
“You're right. It isn't your house.”
Her face tightened. Julian pulled out a chair but did not sit.
I placed a copy of the transfer documents on the table. “Explain these.”
Julian glanced at the papers. “You asked me to keep the company stable while you were away.”
“I asked you to oversee daily operations. I did not ask you to transfer ownership to a shell company.”
“It's temporary.”
“Then show me the board resolution authorizing it.”
He said nothing.
I turned to my mother. “Why was Maya threatened? Why were her calls blocked? Why did someone send her forged messages in my name?”
Victoria set down her coffee. “You have always been too sentimental about that girl. She has never understood the obligations that come with this family.”
“She is my wife.”
“And she is carrying a child whose paternity you have not verified.”
The words landed exactly where she intended. I felt the old instinct rise—the need to demand proof, to force everyone to answer at once. Instead, I looked at Maya, who had entered quietly and was standing near the doorway with Ms. Harris beside her.
She had heard.
Her face went white, but she did not leave.
“Mother,” I said, “you will not discuss my wife's body or my child's legitimacy as a weapon.”
Victoria's eyes narrowed. “I am trying to protect you.”
“From what? A baby? A woman who has been hurt in my home?”
Julian finally sat. “You can't prove we hurt her.”
Maya flinched at his voice. He noticed and smiled faintly, as though her fear were evidence in his favor.
I pushed back my chair and stood between them, not close enough to threaten him, but close enough that Maya no longer had to face him alone.
“Do not speak to her directly again unless she chooses to speak to you. All communication goes through counsel.”
Julian laughed. “Counsel? You're treating your own family like criminals.”
“Elena will be in touch.”
He lifted his wrist. “What about this? You going to call the police over a watch?”
I looked at it. “Take it off.”
For a moment, he seemed ready to refuse. Then Victoria gave him a warning glance. He unclasped the band and set the watch on the table. The metal clicked against the wood.
I picked it up, but I did not put it on. I placed it in a small evidence bag Elena had provided.
Julian stared at me. “You're serious.”
“Completely.”
Victoria's voice became soft, which was always more dangerous than when she shouted. “Think carefully, Daniel. A public fight will ruin the family name. The banks will panic. Your employees will suffer. Your enemies will take advantage.”
“Then we will tell the truth before you can sell another lie.”
I left them at the table and walked Maya back to the guest suite. At the doorway, she stopped me.
“You don't have to stand between me and everyone,” she said quietly.
“I know.”
“I mean it. I need to be able to choose when I leave a room, when I speak, when I see them. I can't recover if every decision is made for me, even by someone trying to help.”
The words stung because they were fair.
“You're right,” I said. “Tell me what you need.”
“I need you to believe me when I say I am afraid. I need you not to turn this into a war that I have to watch from the middle. And I need the baby to be safe.”
“I can do that.”
She studied my face, looking for the promise hidden inside the words.
“I want a separate lawyer,” she added. “Not Elena. Someone whose only job is to represent me.”
“Done. You choose the lawyer. I'll pay the reasonable fees through an arrangement they control, so nobody can use the money to direct your decisions.”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
It was the first time she had thanked me since I returned, and I wished I had earned it sooner.
By noon, Elena had traced Northbridge Holdings to an investment fund managed by a man named Peter Vale, one of my oldest commercial rivals. Vale had spent years trying to gain control of my freight routes. He had failed through ordinary business and had now apparently found another route.
The next discovery was worse. A series of payments had moved from Carter Freight into a consulting company with no employees. The payments matched dates when shipments were delayed, records were altered, and my managers were told to follow Julian's instructions.
Someone had not merely stolen my assets. They had been preparing to weaken my business from the inside.
Marcus found a second set of keys hidden in the back of the study safe. They opened a cabinet in the old family office. Inside were printed emails, a burner phone, and a small notebook in Victoria's handwriting. It listed dates, payments, and short notes: *Maya refuses. Increase pressure.* *Daniel still unreachable.* Nursery plan must remain uncertain.
I closed the notebook.
For years, I had believed my mother was ruthless because she wanted the family to survive. Now I saw she had decided survival meant owning everyone in it.
That evening, I asked Maya whether she wanted to leave the estate for a safer place. She said yes, but not until the doctor cleared her to travel. We arranged a secure apartment near the clinic, with a nurse on call and a guard outside who would not enter unless asked.
Before she left the next morning, Maya looked at me across the hall.
“Daniel?”
“Yes?”
“Don't let them make you believe I betrayed you.”
May you like
I held her gaze. “I won't.”
She went through the front door with her own bag in her own hands. No one carried her. No one told her where to stand. I watched the car pull away, and for the first time in six months, I understood what protection was supposed to look like.
