When the CEO Lost Everything

Drop Julian!

Evelyn's voice cuts through the silence of the VIP room. The warm smile she just wore vanishes instantly. The porcelain cup in her hand feels extremely heavy, almost slipping from her grasp if her suddenly cold fingers didn’t grip the handle tightly.

Arthur Ashford steps closer with the help of his silver cane. Every tap of metal on the marble floor sounds like the ticking of a clock heading toward disaster. The old man hands over his cell phone, still displaying a disconnected call from the Head of Security at Ardent.

“Research helicopter, registration number AR-902, carrying the initial five-year-old patented medical sample, crashes in the Grampian Mountains, Scotland,” Arthur says in a hoarse voice, weighed down by a long-held secret. “The flight was scheduled secretly to transfer your physical research documents—documents you thought were lost in the Oxford laboratory fire five years ago.”

Evelyn holds her breath. Her eyes widen. “Oxford documents? But that lab burned down before I got married to Damian! How is that possible?”

“The documents were never burned, Evelyn,” Arthur cuts in with a look filled with deep regret. “Someone stole them that night. Someone who fakes their own death to hide their true identity from the Ashford and Blackwood families.”

Ethan steps forward, interrupting with a tense expression. “Mr. Ashford, whose name appears on the emergency flight manifest?”

Arthur looks at his grandson with an overwhelming sense of guilt. “Julian Vance. The man who’s been masquerading as Damian Blackwood’s personal assistant all this time.”

The porcelain cup in Evelyn’s hand finally crashes to the marble floor, shattering into pieces. Warm tea spills onto her stiletto shoes. Her head feels like it's being slammed by an iron hammer.

Julian Vance? The calm, obedient man who’s been lurking behind Damian all these five years? The one Evelyn thought was just a loyal servant to the Blackwood family?

“Julian is your half-brother, your biological mother’s,” Arthur continues sharply, tearing through the room’s consciousness. “He’s the mastermind behind the Oxford research sabotage five years ago. He’s the one who leaked your formula to Isabella, manipulated Damian’s car accident four years ago to destroy his reproductive system, and planned the entire downfall of Blackwood Group from within.”

Evelyn leans against the edge of the porcelain table. Her whole body feels like it's about to give out. For five years, she thought her enemies were Victoria Blackwood, petty and greedy, and Isabella Hart, selfish. But it turns out, behind all the manipulations, there’s an unseen figure pulling their strings like pawns on a wooden chessboard.

“Why did he do all this, Grandpa?” Evelyn’s voice trembles—not out of fear, but because a boiling rage erupts inside her chest.

“Because of the patent share of Ardent Biopharma you inherited from your mother,” Arthur whispers. “Julian needs Damian to break your spirit, make you feel useless so you surrender all your patent rights unconsciously. But Julian’s plan falls apart when you decide to leave the Blackwood estate without a word or compromise.”

Ethan clenches his fists by his side. “If the helicopter crashed in Grampian, then where is Julian now? Is he alive?”

Arthur shakes his head slowly. “The local rescue team just found the wreckage. Two pilots die on the spot. However, the emergency door was opened from the inside before the helicopter hit the cliff’s edge. Julian managed to jump using an emergency parachute.”

Evelyn looks up, her eyes burning with determination. “And where is he heading?”

“Satelite tracker signals from Ardent catch that Julian’s emergency signal is active in the same location where Damian is being moved—an isolated cabin on the outskirts of Braemar, northern Scotland,” Arthur replies.

The man left the Ardent building just half an hour ago, taking her mother, who is paralyzed, toward the same destination. Damian moves toward Julian’s hideout, unaware that the man he trusted as his most loyal assistant for years is actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing who has wrecked his life, health, and marriage.

“Evelyn, you shouldn’t go there,” Ethan quickly interjects, grabbing her shoulders and staring straight into her eyes. “This is a trap! Julian deliberately lured you to northern Scotland. Let the Ardent security team and Scotland Yard handle this!”

Evelyn gently pushes Ethan’s hands away, but her face’s softness turns into an unshakeable cold dominance.

“No, Ethan,” she says firmly. “Julian stole my life’s work. He used me, manipulated my medical records, and my suffering over five years for his personal ambitions. I will be the one to finish this pain myself.”

“But Damian!”

“Damian is a foolish man who has lost everything,” Evelyn cuts sharply. “But I won’t let a criminal like Julian Vance finish his crazy plan by killing Damian and taking my patent!”

Prepare the private helicopter now!”

A premature snowstorm hits the Grampian highlands. The cold air pierces deep into her bones. Ardent’s luxurious helicopter makes an emergency landing on a private helipad miles from Braemar.

Evelyn steps down from the helicopter, wearing a thick black coat. Behind her, Ethan and eight tactical guards move swiftly, carrying signal tracking equipment. The fierce wind blows her black hair as her eyes scan the snow-covered mountain landscape.

“Satelite signals show that Damian just arrived at the old Blackwood family cabin ten minutes ago,” Ethan says, looking at the tablet screen. “But Julian’s parachute signal also stops at the same point.”

“Move now,” Evelyn orders sharply.

They push through the pine forest covered in snow. The sound of footsteps crackling against the wind grows more intense. Every second feels like torture for Evelyn—not because she still loves Damian, but because of the bitter truth she must face and finish in front of her enemies.

The old wooden cabin stands isolated on a steep cliff. Dim lights glow from behind foggy glass windows.

Evelyn signals her guards to perimeter the outside of the cabin while she and Ethan approach the front door. Through a cracked wooden window, they hear heated arguing breaking the silence of the storm.

“Julian? How could you be here?!” Damian’s voice echoes, filled with confusion and anxiety. “What about the documents I ordered to send to Ardent’s lawyer?”

Inside the living room, lit by a fire in an old fireplace, Damian stands protecting his wheelchair where Victoria lies weak. In front of them, Julian Vance stands tall. His neat suit is torn in several places, his silver hair messy, his face covered with scratches from the branches when he parachuted down. But in his right hand, he holds a black silenced pistol pointed directly at Damian’s chest.

“The documents are worthless now, Young Master Blackwood,” Julian says with a cold laugh. That laugh sounds so unfamiliar, so different from the polite, humble tone he used for years.

“What do you mean, Julian?!” Damian shouts, eyes wide with shock. “You… you’re pointing a gun at me?”

“I’ve been pretending to be a loyal dog at this house for five years!” Julian yells, eyes blazing with madness and hatred that’s been restrained for decades. “I serve a foolish man like you and a greedy old woman like your mother! Do you think I bribed Dr. Harrison to fake your medical records? Do you think I damaged your car’s brakes four years ago to destroy your reproductive system?!”

Damian freezes. The man stumbles back one step, hitting Victoria’s wheelchair arm. His face turns pale like a corpse.

“You—” Damian whispers, his voice choking in his throat. “You did all that?!”

“Of course I did!” Julian roars with a booming laugh. “I need the Blackwood family to fall apart! I need Evelyn cornered so she agrees to sign over her mother’s pharmaceutical patent rights to you, which I’ll then transfer to my offshore account! But you, useless man, just threw Evelyn out without even trying to take the patent!”

Victoria tries to speak, her paralyzed lips moving, tears of fear streaming down her face.

“Now,” Julian continues, pulling his gun’s hammer, “the hijacked research helicopter has crashed. All the original patent documents of Evelyn are in my hands. I just need to kill you both, set this cabin on fire, and make the world believe Damian Blackwood murdered his own mother before committing suicide due to bankruptcy.”

Damian clenches his fists. Tears of rage and despair flow down his gaunt face. “You’re a devil, Julian! I trusted you more than anyone!”

“Trust is a weakness of fools, Damian,” Julian whispers coldly. His hand tightens on the trigger. “Goodbye, Young Master.”

Suddenly, the wooden door of the cabin is kicked open.

“Drop your weapon, Julian Vance!”

A loud, commanding voice echoes through the room. Evelyn steps inside the cabin, followed by Ethan and four armed Ardent guards who immediately aim their assault rifles at Julian.