{Julian’s POV}
I slammed the door to the study hard enough the damn hinges groaned. The chandelier above me rattled. Fitting. Everything in this godforsaken house felt ready to shatter; including me.
“That bastard,” I snarled. “That manipulative, senile old bastard.”
“Oh, darling, don’t sugarcoat it,” my mother, Debra, technically, said as she breezed in behind me, pearls bouncing against her collarbone. “Tell us how you really feel.”
I turned on her, jaw tight. “He gave it to a stranger, Mother. Not just the fortune. Everything. He threw away Lachlan's legacy like it was yesterday’s wine.”
“Well.” She picked up a decanter from the liquor cart like we weren’t in crisis. “You’ve always said he loved a good twist ending.”
“You think this is funny?”
Behind her, Aaron waltzed in like he
