Chapter 56: Chapter 55: The Trash and the Truth
The atmosphere inside Nexus Global was different from Vane Corp. It was quieter, more focused, and pulsed with a hidden power that Julius was only just beginning to understand.
He sat at a desk in the corner of Harrison’s massive office, his laptop open. The transition had been easy. There were no arguments about where he should sit or what he should do.
Harrison simply moved a few things, cleared a space, and told him, "This is yours."
Julius was looking over some recovery files when the calm was shattered. He heard a commotion out in the hallway—shouting, the sound of heavy footsteps, and a woman’s voice screaming his name.
The office doors burst open.
Helen stood there, but she wasn’t the polished woman Julius had known for months. Her expensive dress was wrinkled and stained at the hem.
Her hair, usually perfect, was a mess of tangles. Her eyes were red and swollen, and the confident glow she used to carry was gone.
She looked small and broken.
"Julius!" she screamed, rushing toward him.
Harrison stood up from his own desk, his body shifting into a protective stance. He didn’t say a word, but his scent filled the room like a warning.
Helen didn’t care. She threw herself onto the floor at the edge of Julius’s desk, her knees hitting the carpet with a thud.
She reached out, trying to grab his hand, but Julius pulled back.
"Julius, please," she sobbed, her tears leaving tracks through her makeup. "You have to help us. The bank took everything. My father... is with nothing."
"They took the house, the cars, everything. We have nowhere to go."
Julius looked down at her. He expected to feel something—anger, maybe, or even a little bit of pity.
But there was nothing.
He looked at the woman he had almost married and felt like he was looking at a complete stranger.
"You knew, didn’t you?" Julius asked. His voice was cold and flat.
"I didn’t!" Helen cried, shaking her head violently. "I didn’t know about the fraud or the hidden accounts."
"I thought we were a team, Julius. I thought you loved me. You can’t just let them throw me onto the street. Please, tell Harrison to stop. Tell him to give us back our shares."
Julius leaned back in his chair.
"You stayed with me because your father told you to. You wanted my name and my money to cover up the holes in your own life."
"You weren’t a partner, Helen. You were a parasite."
"That’s not true!"
Harrison stepped forward, his shadow falling over her. He didn’t look at her with anger; he looked at her like she was a bug he was about to crush under his shoe.
"You’re wasting your breath," Harrison said. His voice was low and lethal.
"You and your father tried to play a game with something you didn’t understand. You tried to trap an Enigma’s bond in a contract. That was your first mistake."
"Harrison, please—"
Harrison didn’t let her finish. He pressed a button on his desk.
"Security. Get this trash out of my office and out of this building. If she sets foot on this block again, call the police."
Two large men in black suits appeared at the door. They didn’t hesitate.
They grabbed Helen by her arms and hauled her to her feet.
She kicked and screamed, calling Julius’s name, begging him to look at her, but Julius just turned back to his laptop.
"Julius! You can’t do this! I loved you!"
The doors shut, muffling her screams.
A moment later, the hallway went quiet.
Harrison walked over to Julius, his hand resting on the back of his neck.
"Are you okay?"
"I’m fine," Julius said, letting out a long breath. "I just can’t believe I almost tied my life to that."
"You didn’t," Harrison reminded him. "I wouldn’t have let you."
Just then, Julius’s phone began to vibrate on the desk.
He looked at the screen. It was his mother.
He looked at Harrison, who nodded once.
Julius swiped to answer and put it on speaker.
"Hello, Mom," Julius said.
There was a long silence on the other end. He could hear the sound of her pouring a drink.
"I saw the news," she said. Her voice was surprisingly calm. "The Millers are finished."
"And I saw the photos of you two arriving at the office this morning."
Julius looked up at Harrison. Harrison was watching him, his thumb rubbing the nape of Julius’s neck.
"So," his mother continued. "You finally accepted him? You finally stopped fighting what was always meant to be?"
Julius didn’t hesitate this time. He didn’t feel the need to argue or defend his pride.
"Yes," he said. "I did."
He heard his mother let out a soft, tired sigh.
It sounded like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders after twenty-five years.
"Good. About time you came home, Julius. Don’t let him out of your sight again."
She hung up without another word.
Julius set the phone down, feeling a strange sense of peace. The approval from his mother felt like the final piece of the puzzle.
The bond was where it was supposed to be.
"She’s right, you know," Harrison whispered. "I’m not letting you out of my sight."
The peaceful moment was broken by a soft knock at the door.
Harrison’s assistant, a young man who looked terrified to be interrupting, stepped inside.
"Sir? This just arrived by courier," the assistant said. He held out a plain, heavy white envelope.
"It’s marked for Mr. Vane’s eyes only."
"From who?" Julius asked, standing up.
"There was no name, sir. Just a seal."
Harrison took the envelope and dismissed the assistant.
He looked at the back of it, and his entire body went stiff.
He didn’t open it. He just stared at the symbol pressed into the wax—a simple, empty circle.
"What is it?" Julius asked, walking over to him. "Is it more from the Millers?"
"No," Harrison said. His voice was grim, the warmth from moments ago completely gone.
"This isn’t the Millers. This is from the people who planned the accident.
He handed the envelope to Julius.
Julius felt a cold chill run down his spine as he took it. He broke the seal and pulled out a single piece of paper.
There was only one sentence written in neat, black ink:
The debt hasn’t been paid yet. We are coming for the son.
Julius looked at Harrison, the reality of the war hitting him all over again.
They had discarded the trash, but the real monsters were finally stepping out of the dark.
