Chapter 6 - The Dragon of Hartwell Estate
Lady Eleanor Hartwell was not a woman who knocked on doors.
She entered the grand drawing room like a thunderstorm wrapped in Chanel wool and emeralds. At sixty-five, the widow of the late Edward Hartwell was a force of nature—a woman who had spent forty years navigating high society and holding the Hartwell family fortune together with an iron fist.
Behind her stood two junior attorneys and Julian’s estranged half-brother, Victor.
"Julian!" Eleanor’s voice sliced through the room like a silver blade as Julian and Mara entered from the grand staircase. "What is this absolute insanity I am reading on the news wires?!"
Julian walked to the liquor cabinet, completely unbothered, and poured himself two fingers of scotch. "Good evening, Eleanor. You usually give notice before taking the helicopter."
"Don't you dare play glib with me!" Eleanor snapped, striking her silver-tipped walking stick against the parquet floor. "You broke the Rourke engagement? You destroyed a forty-million-dollar land deal? And you announced to the international press that a common housemaid’s child is the primary heir to the Hartwell estate?!"
Victor, a slick, sharp-featured man in his thirties with cold eyes, stepped forward with a smirk. "You've lost your mind, brother. The board is already calling an emergency meeting for tomorrow morning. They think you've had a mental breakdown."
Julian took a sip of his scotch, turning around slowly to face them. "The board owns thirty percent of the voting shares, Victor. I own fifty-two. They can call all the meetings they want."
Eleanor’s sharp eyes pivoted from Julian directly onto Mara. She scanned Mara from head to toe—taking in the green dress, the posture, and the quiet dignity in Mara’s grey eyes—with calculating precision.
"So," Eleanor said coldly, stepping closer to Mara. "You are the little girl from the valley who claims she found my step-son in a ditch."
"I pulled him from a burning car, Lady Eleanor," Mara said, keeping her chin up, refusing to back down beneath the old woman's intimidating glare. "And I didn't claim anything. Julian found us."
"A convenient story," Eleanor sneered. "A silver hummingbird charm? A night in a cabin? It sounds like a cheap romance novel cooked up by a girl desperate for a trust fund."
"Careful, Eleanor," Julian warned softly, setting his glass down on the marble mantelpiece with a heavy clink.
"No, Julian, YOU be careful!" Eleanor turned on him, her eyes flashing. "Your father built this empire with blood and sweat! We will not allow a maid with an illegitimate child to drag the Hartwell name through the gutter! I have already instructed our family lawyers to file for an emergency custody injunction."
Mara felt the air leave her lungs. "Custody?"
Victor smiled wickedly, pulling an official court folder from his briefcase. "If the child is indeed a Hartwell heir, she cannot be raised by a mother with no financial standing, no education, and a forged background reference. We will prove in family court that you are an unfit mother, Mara. The child will be raised in a proper boarding school in Switzerland, under the legal guardianship of the Hartwell Trust."
"You won't touch my daughter," Mara whispered, her voice dropping into a terrifying, fierce maternal growl.
"We already have the judge lined up, dear," Eleanor said smoothly, turning toward the door. "You have twenty-four hours to sign a relinquishment agreement. We will pay you five million dollars to walk away and never see the child again."
"Get out," Julian said.
This time, his voice wasn't just cold. It was the sound of a predator preparing to strike.
"Julian, be reasonable—" Victor started.
Julian stepped forward so fast that Victor flinched back, nearly knocking over an antique vase.
"If you or Eleanor file a single paper in family court," Julian said, his face inches from Victor's, "I will liquidate every share of Hartwell stock I own on the open market tomorrow morning. I will crash the company valuation by eighty percent. I will ruin this family, ruin the trust, and leave you with nothing but bankrupt paper. Try me, Victor. See if I care about the money more than my daughter."
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Eleanor stared at Julian, genuine shock showing through her heavily powdered face. She realized, in that terrifying moment, that Julian wasn't bluffing. He would burn the entire empire to the ground to protect Mara and Ivy.
Without another word, Eleanor turned her back and swept out of the house, her stick clicking angrily against the floor, with Victor scuttling behind her like a frightened rat.
