Chapter 289

JULIAN'S POV

The steering wheel felt cold and sticky beneath my palms.

We were parked deep in the thick patch of oak trees at the edge of the old service road, about half a mile from the massive stone wall surrounding Aria’s estate.

Through the heavy rain wiping across the windshield, I could see the high iron gates gleaming wetly in the distance. I leaned forward, my chest tight as I stared through the glass.

Standing right at the gate was a massive man in a dark, tailored suit. He was holding a digital tablet, stopping every single delivery van, checking IDs, and peering inside the back doors before letting anyone pass.

"That's Dominic," I muttered, my hands shaking against the wheel. "Brandon’s main guy. He’s standing right there."

"Let him stand there," Leonie said calmly from the passenger seat.

She wasn't even looking at the gate. She was checking her face in the small vanity mirror, putting on a fresh coat of dark red lipstick as if we were about to go to a fancy dinner instead of breaking onto a secured property.

"Leonie, did you see him?” I turned my head, my voice rising in panic. "He’s checking every person. He’s using biometric scanners. If I step anywhere near that front gate, he'll tackle me to the ground and call the police before I can even scream."

Leonie clicked her lipstick tube shut with a sharp snap. She turned her cold blue eyes toward me, her expression completely flat. "Are you stupid, Julian?" she asked softly. "Did I say we were walking through the front gate?"

"No, but—"

"Then stop shaking like a beaten dog," she commanded, reaching out and grabbing my jaw in a firm, painful grip that dug her manicured nails into my skin. "Look at me."

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to look into her sharp, terrifying eyes.

"You are wearing the caterer’s uniform I bought you," Leonie said, running her gloved fingers over the white collared shirt and black vest I had put on back at the warehouse.

"You have the blue service pass clipped to your belt. You look like every other worker delivering food and drinks today."

"What about my face?" I asked, pulling away from her grip. "My picture was on the front page of every sports news site yesterday. If anyone looks at me for two seconds, they'll know who I am. Besides, Brandon's men already know who I am.”

Leonie reached into her bag and pulled out a dark black baseball cap and a pair of clear-lens glasses. She shoved them hard against my chest.

"Put them on," she ordered. "Keep your head down. Speak only when spoken to, and keep your voice low. Security guards look at credentials and badges, Julian. They don't look closely at the faces of the people carrying heavy ice bags into the kitchen."

I pulled the cap down low over my forehead and put the glasses on my nose. I looked at myself in the rearview mirror. My face looked different, tired, shadowed, and hidden beneath the brim.

But my heart was still beating wildly against my ribs, sounding like a war drum in my ears. "What about the underground tunnel?" I asked, turning back to her. "You said we were taking the utility route."

"We are," Leonie said, pointing toward the heavy wooden fence running along the side of the property, hidden deep behind the overgrown oak trees.

“The utility access hatch is right behind that thick line of bushes near the old creek bed. It leads straight under the estate's lower service kitchen."

"And the guards won't be watching that hatch?" I asked, my voice filled with doubt. "What if Brandon put thermal sensors along that side of the fence too?"

Leonie pulled out a small, black electronic device with a red blinking light. She held it up between two fingers, a cold, mean smile touching her lips.

"In five minutes, my contact is going to trigger a signal jammer on the far north side of the fence," she explained smoothly.

"It will set off a false thermal alarm in the woods. Brandon's perimeter guards will run straight to the north woods to check the fence line. And while they are running away from the house, we slip down into the hatch."

I stared at the black device, my mind racing through every possible scenario. "And then what?" I asked, my breath catching in my throat. "What happens when I get inside the house?"

"You walk up the service stairs to the private living wing," Leonie whispered, leaning closer until her breath brushed my ear.

"Aria will be up there getting Amelia ready for the party. You take your daughter by the hand, you lead her out through the side exit, and you put her in the back of this car."

"And Aria?" I asked, my voice dropping into a raspy whisper. "What if she screams? What if she tries to stop me?"

Leonie reached into her purse and pulled out a small, silver canister of tactical pepper spray, dropping it heavily into my lap.

"If she screams, you shut her up," Leonie said, her voice dropping into a dark, lethal tone. "Aria betrayed you, Julian. She threw you away for Brandon. She turned your daughter against you. You owe her nothing."

I looked down at the silver canister resting on my lap, my fingers curling around the cold metal.

She was right. Aria had given everything that belonged to us to Brandon.

She had given him my home, my family, and my daughter's love. She was sitting in her big mansion right now, smiling and laughing while my whole life was in ashes.

"She took everything from me," I whispered, the fear inside me slowly turning into a hot, blinding rage.

"Then go take back what's yours," Leonie murmured, tapping the side of my cap. "It's time."

I opened the driver's side door, stepping out into the cold, pouring rain.

The wet air stung my face, but I didn't care anymore. I pulled the cap down tighter, gripped the silver canister inside my pocket, and followed Leonie through the thick trees toward the hidden fence line.

My career was dead. My name was ruined. But as I stepped into the dark shadows near the estate wall, I told myself that by the time the sun went down today, Brandon would finally know how it felt to lose everything.