Chapter 110 The Confrontation

Chapter 110 The Confrontation
Briar's POV

The biometric scanner at the gate flashed red for the third time, its mechanical voice announcing what I already knew: "Identity verification failed. Access denied."

I stared at the device that had recognized my face for eighteen years, watching the error message blink mockingly. Marcus had scrubbed me from the system entirely, erased me as if I'd never existed in this house.

A cold laugh escaped my throat. Selene stirred inside my chest, her anger bleeding into mine until I couldn't tell where her fury ended and my own began. This petty cruelty confirmed everything I knew about the man who called himself my father.

I pulled out my phone to call the house line when I heard footsteps pounding down the driveway, then Leo's voice shouting my name with pure joy that made my chest tighten painfully.

"Briar! Sister!" He burst through the gate's pedestrian entrance, his eight-year-old frame nearly tackling me as he wrapped his arms around my waist and buried his face against my stomach.

Behind him Diane appeared in the doorway, her expression tight with disapproval as she called out, "Leo, don't be rude! Let your sister breathe!"

But Leo ignored her completely, tilting his head back to beam up at me with those wide innocent eyes that reminded me painfully of my grandfather. "You came! I knew you'd come!"

My hand moved automatically to stroke his hair before I caught myself and let it fall back to my side, fingers curling into a fist. This child had done nothing wrong, bore no responsibility for his parents' sins, yet looking at his trusting face made my mission feel impossibly complicated.

I was here to destroy his father, to reclaim what had been stolen. But Leo was just a kid who loved his half-sister and wanted her at his birthday party.

"Of course I came," I managed, my voice steadier than I felt. "Happy birthday, Leo."

He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the house, chattering about his new teacher and science project. His small fingers wrapped around mine with complete trust, and I felt something crack inside my chest—some wall I'd built to keep myself focused on the mission.

I'm here to make them pay, I reminded myself as Leo dragged me up the front steps. For what they did to me, for stealing my inheritance, for selling me to Julian.

But looking down at Leo's excited face, I found myself thinking 'he's just a child' and hating myself for the weakness.

Diane stood in the doorway blocking our path, one manicured hand reaching out to physically pull Leo away from me. "That's enough, sweetheart. Don't cling to your sister like that, she'll think you're annoying."

I met her eyes and let my wolf flash gold for just a second, watching her flinch. "My mouth works just fine, Diane. If I'm annoyed, I'll say so myself."

Leo looked between us with confusion creeping into his expression. I squeezed his hand once before releasing it, keeping my voice gentle. "Why don't you go play in the garden? I'll come find you later."

His face lit up and he started to respond but Marcus's voice cut through from the living room, cold and commanding. "Leo. Come here."

His shoulders hunched slightly and he glanced back at me with something like apology before trudging toward his father's voice. I watched him go, then followed Diane into the house.

Marcus stood with his back to me, one hand resting on Leo's shoulder in a gesture that looked protective but felt like ownership. He didn't turn around as I entered.

"Look at you," I said, letting contempt drip from every word. "Still hiding behind children."

He turned then, his face carefully blank except for his eyes which held cold calculation. "Today is Leo's birthday. I expect you to remember that."

"Hard to forget when that's the only reason I'm here." I pulled a wrapped box from my bag and held it out to Leo, who lit up immediately and started to rush forward before Marcus's hand tightened on his shoulder.

"What do you say, son?"

"Thank you, Sister!" Leo took the box with both hands, his fingers already working at the wrapping paper.

I crouched down to his level, fighting the urge to reach out and smooth down his cowlick. "It's that advanced Lego set you wanted. Why don't you go set it up in the garden? We can work on it together after dinner."

Leo hesitated, looking between me and Marcus with that too-perceptive gaze. Then the housekeeper intercepted him at the garden door and led him away.

I turned back to Marcus and Diane with my mask firmly back in place.

"Shall we eat?" Diane gestured toward the dining room with false hospitality.

I followed them to where three place settings waited at one end of the long table. The crystal gleamed under the chandelier and expensive wine sat breathing in a decanter, the whole scene staged like we were a normal family.

"Sit down," Marcus said, taking the head of the table. "We'll talk after we eat."

I remained standing, my hands braced against the back of the chair. "Eat what? Food bought with stolen money?" I met Marcus's eyes across the table. "I'd rather not risk the poison, thanks."

"I'm here to take back what belongs to me."

"And what exactly do you think belongs to you?" Marcus asked.

"The forty percent of Vance Botanicals that my grandfather left to me in his will." I watched their faces carefully. "The shares you stole when you forged his final wishes."

Marcus's eyebrows rose in theatrical surprise. "Stole? Briar, your grandfather's will was properly executed and filed with the court."

"Five percent," I said flatly. "You're claiming he meant to leave me five percent while you took thirty-five."

Diane leaned forward with false concern. "Sweetheart, you can't go around making accusations like this."

I pulled the leather folder from my bag and slammed it onto the table, then extracted the original will. "This is the real will. The one he signed six months before he died, properly witnessed and notarized."

I threw the document across the table and it slid to a stop in front of Marcus's plate. "You forged a second will after he died and filed the fake version with probate. That's fraud, Marcus. That's theft."

His face had gone pale as he stared down at the papers. Beside him Diane made a small choked sound, one hand pressed to her mouth. "Where did you get this?"

"Does it matter? It's real and you know it." I leaned forward. "I want my shares back. All of them. Transfer them to my name and sign whatever documents are necessary."

Marcus's jaw clenched and his expression hardened into stubborn defiance.

"No."

My hand closed around the wine bottle and I swung it in a wide arc, bringing it down against the edge of the table with all my strength.

Glass exploded and red wine sprayed across the white tablecloth, across Marcus's expensive suit, across Diane's horrified face. The broken bottle neck remained in my hand, its jagged edges catching the light as I pointed it at Marcus.

"I'm not asking," I said, my voice deadly calm even as my eyes turned gold. "I'm telling you. Those shares are mine and I'm taking them back."

Marcus stared at the broken glass, at the wine dripping from his face. Beside him Diane had gone sheet white, both hands pressed over her mouth.

I took a step forward and pressed the jagged bottle neck against Marcus's throat, feeling him freeze as the glass dimpled his skin without quite breaking it. "Sign the transfer papers. Or I'll take you to court and destroy everything you've built on my stolen inheritance."

For a long moment he just stared at me. Then something shifted in his expression, some desperate calculation.

"Fine. Take me to court." His voice gained confidence. "Drag this through the legal system. Let everyone know what a mess the Vance family is." He leaned forward slightly, pressing his throat harder against the glass. "Do it right now while the company is in its growth phase. Destroy everything your grandfather built because you want revenge."

I felt my hand start to shake as his words sank in. He knew exactly what leverage he had.

"You think I won't?" I pressed the glass harder, watching a thin line of blood appear.

"I think you care about winning," Marcus said. "And if you destroy Vance Botanicals in the process, you'll lose everything. No shares, no company, no inheritance at all." His lips curved into something that might have been a smile. "So go ahead. Sue me. Watch everything burn."

My hand trembled and I wanted so badly to just drag the glass across his throat. But Selene was growling warnings in my mind, reminding me that I needed to think strategically.

Slowly, fighting every instinct that screamed for violence, I lowered the broken bottle and stepped back. Marcus sagged slightly in his chair, one hand coming up to touch the thin cut on his throat.

"You're right," I said softly. "A lawsuit would hurt the company."

I set the broken bottle down with deliberate care, then pulled out my phone and opened my banking app. "But here's what you're forgetting, Marcus. I don't need Vance Botanicals anymore."

I turned the phone to show him my account balance. "You, on the other hand, need money from me. Leo's private school tuition? I've been paying it. Diane's monthly spa treatments? I've been covering those too. Your country club membership, your car payments, the mortgage on this house? All subsidized by distributions from my five percent stake."

I watched the color drain from Diane's face as she did the mental math.

"So here's my offer," I continued. "Transfer my forty percent back to me, or I cut you off completely. No more money for Leo's education, no more covering Diane's expenses, no more propping up your lifestyle. And when Vance Botanicals needs capital, don't even think about coming to me. You'll be on your own."

Marcus's hands clenched into fists on the table. Beside him Diane had started to cry silently, mascara running down her cheeks.

"You can keep lying to yourself that you earned those shares," I said quietly. "But you're going to do it without my money supporting your delusions."

The silence that followed was broken only by Diane's muffled sobs and the distant sound of Leo playing in the garden.

Marcus opened his mouth to respond when a child's voice shattered the tension.

"Dad?" Leo's voice came from the doorway, small and trembling and full of tears. "Dad, is it true? Did you take Sister's shares? Did you steal from her?"