Chapter 468

Vivian shook her head violently. "I don't have an answer for you, Julian. And I refuse to play your twisted mind games." Her fingers tightened around the steering wheel. "Move. Now. Or I swear I'll drive right through you."

Julian Blackwood lounged against the hood of her car, completely unfazed. A smirk played on his lips. "I expected you to be stronger after all these years. Yet here you are—still running from the truth. Pathetic, really."

"You're delusional!" Vivian snapped. "Last warning. Get out of my way!"

Her foot hovered over the accelerator. One hard press, and Julian would be nothing but a red stain on the pavement.

He chuckled darkly. "Do you really think killing me will change anything? My dear cousin is still dying, Vivian. Running me over won't save him."

Julian pushed off the car and gestured grandly at their surroundings. "Beautiful spot, isn't it? The Blackwoods picked it themselves. Perfect feng shui for eternity." His grin turned vicious. "Once they bury Ethan here, the great Nathaniel Blackwood will be trapped in this dirt forever—"

Vivian's vision blurred. The words "dying cousin" echoed in her skull like a death knell.

No. Impossible. Ethan didn't die. Men like him didn't just—

"See for yourself." Julian pointed to the massive marble tomb ahead. "They've even engraved your name beside his. How poetic—the devoted wife joining him in death." He barked a laugh. "Life's hilarious, isn't it? Doesn't matter how powerful someone is. In the end, we're all just corpses waiting to happen."

With deliberate cruelty, Julian ground his heel into Ethan's photograph on the tombstone.

"Where's that famous Blackwood pride now, cousin? Can't fight back from six feet under, can you?" Spittle flew from Julian's lips as decades of resentment boiled over. "Ninety-nine percent on my bar exams got me beaten bloody because you scored perfect. Built NovaTech into the top three—only to get exiled because you whispered in Grandfather's ear!"

He kicked the tombstone hard. "They called me the family disgrace. But how could I ever measure up to Saint Ethan?" Julian's voice cracked with manic glee. "Finally. Finally, you're the one lying in the dirt while I take everything—including her."

"STOP!"

Vivian didn't remember exiting the car. She stood between Julian and the desecrated grave, chest heaving. "You're stomping on a dead man's memory. Have you no decency?"

Julian's eyes glittered with malice. "What's wrong, Vivian? Feeling guilty?"