Aria’s POV
The silence that fell after Julian’s words was suffocating. It pressed against my chest, thick and heavy, making it hard to breathe. My father stared at his wrist—the one Julian held in an iron grip—and something flickered across his face. Pain? Recognition? I couldn’t tell. But whatever it was, it made my stomach twist.
“Ju—Julian Cross?” Marcus’s voice shook, cracking on the name like thin ice breaking beneath weight. His entire body seemed to crumble inward, shoulders hunching, knees buckling slightly as if the ground had shifted beneath him.
Who didn’t know Julian Cross in the business world? The name alone carried authority, wealth, fame, power—the kind that made grown men think twice before crossing him. The kind that could destroy empires with a single phone call.
“Mr
