Chapter 3 - The Paper Empire
The private room at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center was quiet, save for the steady, rhythmic beep of my heart monitor.
The doctor had confirmed three fractured ribs, a severe spinal contusion, and six stitches across my shoulder blade. I was wrapped in tight bandages, propped up with soft pillows, but for the first time in two years, I felt like I could finally breathe.
Julian sat in the chair beside my bed. He hadn't left my side for six hours. He had discarded his designer suit jacket, rolled up his sleeves, and rested his forehead against my arm.
"I'm sorry, Mom," he whispered, his voice thick with guilt. "I'm so, so sorry."
"Julian, look at me," I said gently, running my fingers through his hair, just like I used to when he was a little boy crying over his algebra homework in our cold Detroit apartment. "You didn't know."
"I should have known," he said, raising his head. His eyes were red-rimmed. "I saw the way she looked at you when she thought I wasn't paying attention. I saw how she slowly moved your things out of the main house and into the back wing. But every time I asked you about it, you told me everything was fine."
"Because you were happy," I said softly. "You worked so hard your whole life, Julian. You bore the burden of taking care of me since you were eight years old. When you married Chloe, I thought... I thought you finally found joy. I wasn't going to take that away from you."
"Joy?" Julian let out a bitter, lifeless laugh. "Mom, she wasn't joy. She was a black hole."
There was a soft knock on the door. David, Julian’s chief legal and financial adviser, stepped into the room holding a thick leather briefcase.
"Julian," David said quietly. "We have a situation."
Julian stood up immediately, stepping into the corner of the room. "Is she out on bail?"
"Her mother posted the $50,000 bail an hour ago using a high-interest hard-money lender," David said, opening his briefcase. "Chloe is currently back at the Calabasas house with a team of three high-powered celebrity defense attorneys."
"She’s at my house?" Julian’s voice turned deadly sharp.
"She claims she has a legal right to occupy the marital residence until a court orders otherwise," David explained. "Furthermore, her lead attorney, Richard Sterling—the guy who represents all the Hollywood elites—just served us with emergency court papers."
"What kind of papers?"
David swallowed hard. "She’s suing for temporary spousal support. She’s demanding $250,000 a month, exclusive occupancy of the Calabasas estate, full coverage of her legal fees, and an immediate injunction to unfreeze the bank accounts."
I gasped from the hospital bed. "Quarter of a million dollars a month?! For hurting me?!"
David looked at me sympathetically. "Martha, her lawyer is claiming that you provoked her. They are releasing a statement to the press within the hour claiming that you have severe dementia, that you became violent in the kitchen, and that Chloe was merely acting in self-defense."
Julian’s face went entirely void of color.
"They're going to drag my mother's name through the mud to save her reputation?" Julian asked, his voice chillingly calm.
"That's Sterling's signature playbook," David warned. "He ruins the victim's reputation in the media so they agree to settle quietly out of court."
Julian turned back to look at me. He walked over, leaned down, and kissed my forehead.
"David," Julian said quietly.
"Yes, Julian?"
"Call our PR team. Tell them not to issue a single statement."
David blinked, surprised. "No statement? Julian, the press will eat us alive!"
"Let them talk," Julian said, a terrifying, dark smile touching the corners of his lips. "Chloe thinks she’s playing a game of Hollywood media spin. She forgot that I didn't build a billion-dollar tech company by playing nice. I built it by destroying my competition."
Julian pulled his laptop out of his bag.
"David, launch Project Glasshouse."
May you like
David’s eyes widened in absolute shock. "Julian... are you sure? If you execute Project Glasshouse, there’s no turning back. It will destroy her completely."
"She put my mother in the hospital," Julian said coldly. "I don't want to turn back. I want to incinerate the ground she walks on."
