Chapter 280
“Julian, are you trying to piss me off? I told you to apologize,” Marcus barked.
Bianca pulled on Marcus’s arm, her voice gentle and understanding. “Honey, let it go. I’m sure Julian didn’t mean it. We’re all family. We shouldn’t fight over me.”
Julian’s gaze fell on her. Bianca’s fists clenched. There it was again—that look. The one that saw right through her, dissected her, and dismissed her with utter contempt.
It made her feel like a thief, an insect, a sinner. She could never read his emotions; he was always the same gentle, detached young man, seemingly above it all.
It had taken her years to chip away at the bond between him and his father, and she couldn’t afford to let all that work go down the drain.
“Bianca,” Julian said coolly, “watch what you say. We share no blood. We are not family. Have some self-respect.”
The words were a slap in the face. ‘Self-respect!’ He dared say that to his elder.
“You insolent brat!” Marcus was a traditional man, and in his eyes, Julian was deliberately targeting Bianca.
She had miscarried three times because of him, so why couldn’t he just accept her?
It had been a long time since Marcus had a real talk with his eldest son. He didn’t understand what had turned the wonderful child he once knew into this.
“Honey, don’t be angry,” Bianca pleaded. “I know Julian didn’t mean to. He resents me, and I understand. Levi and I won’t fight for a single penny of the Ford fortune. You don’t have to worry.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Levi is my son, too,” Marcus soothed her.
“No, darling. I’ve said it before. We don’t want anything. Just being with you is enough,” she said, turning her gaze to Julian, her pale, weak face in the hospital gown breaking into a pure smile. “Julian, I don’t expect you to see me as your mother. I just want you to accept me so we can live in peace.”
Julian acted as if she wasn’t even there. “I’m at peace with everyone. You and I have no relationship, so there’s nothing to accept or not accept.”
Bianca gritted her teeth. The boy was impossible.
“Julian, I don’t care what you think. Bianca is my wife and your elder. You’re back now, so get married and stop causing trouble for me,” Marcus said.
Julian’s eyes locked onto his father. “Where are my mother’s things?”
“Honey, are you talking about that box you showed me?” Bianca interjected.
Julian flinched, his body going rigid. “What did you say? He gave you the box?” Those were his mother’s things. How dare he give them to someone else.
Before Marcus could speak, Bianca stepped in front of him. “Julian, if you’re going to blame someone, blame me. Your father kept your mother’s things very carefully. It was me. I was curious and asked to see them.”
“Get out of my way,” Julian snarled, his expression turning dark. He shoved Bianca aside. She fell heavily to the floor, and blood started to seep from between her legs.
“Mom!” Levi rushed to her side.
“Julian, you—” Marcus began to yell, but he stopped short when he saw the raw hatred in his son’s eyes.
For a second, it felt like he was being stared down by a demon. He’d never seen such a terrifying expression on his usually polite son’s face, and the words died in his throat.
Julian was radiating pure malice.
Marcus finally relented. “I’ll have the butler bring the things over. No one has looked at them. But if anything happens to Bianca, you can forget about being the heir to the Ford estate.”
Julian took a deep, steadying breath. “I just want my mother’s things.”
The baby was gone.
Bianca would never be able to conceive again. The multiple miscarriages had damaged her uterus beyond repair.
“What do you mean, the baby’s gone?” Marcus’s long-awaited child was gone.
He was five months along, just five more months until he could have met his third child.
“Give me back my baby. Give him back!” Bianca screamed, pounding on Julian’s chest.
“Get on your knees! You monster! I should never have had you. What will it take to satisfy you?” Marcus blamed Julian for everything!
In his mind, this was just another one of his son’s cruel schemes. “You shouldn’t even be alive. You’ve taken three lives!”
Marcus grabbed a nearby vase and swung it at Julian’s head. But a hand shot out, twisting his wrist back with surprising force. The pain made him stumble back.
Julian knew any explanation was pointless. He was all too familiar with Bianca’s machinations.
Using her own unborn children as pawns to drive him out of the family – and today, she had finally succeeded.
The first child, he’d thought it was his fault, never imagining Bianca did it on purpose. That cost him his position at the company. The second child got his name erased from the family records, making him a ghost.
This third child would ensure the inheritance went to Levi.
She was gambling with lives.
Julian had to admit, he was no match for her. They didn’t have to go to such lengths, he never wanted the Ford estate in the first place.
The only reason he hadn’t fought his father was because the man held his mother’s belongings hostage, the one thing that could ever bring him home.
Just as the vase was about to connect with his head, a sweet scent filled the air and a pair of hands stopped the blow. He froze, momentarily disoriented.
“Who the hell are you?” Marcus demanded, frowning at the woman who had appeared out of nowhere. She was strong, definitely trained.
Sienna Hart stood protectively in front of Julian. “My name is Sienna Hart. I’m a friend of Julian’s,” she said, her voice devoid of emotion. “And you, sir, why are you hitting him?”
She knew a little about the Fords—that Julian’s mother had died long ago and his father had remarried Bianca, with whom he had a son.
“I don’t care who you are. I’m disciplining my own son. This is none of your business,” Marcus snapped, too furious to listen to reason.
“Well, I’m making it my business,” Sienna declared.
Bianca pointed a trembling finger at Sienna. “Who is this nobody? Such nerve. Do you have any idea who the Fords are? Julian killed my baby! He’s made it so I can never have children again. He’s a monster! My poor baby—Mommy is so sorry.” She crumpled to the floor, sobbing.