Infinite Wealth: Revenge of the Lost Heir

CHAPTER 22: TERROR WITHOUT A CORPSE

"Damnit! How can there be none?!"

The sound of Arthur Vance's panicking breath could be clearly heard inside his quiet office. The old man slammed a sheet of secret document onto the table. In front of him, Valerie and Ryan sat with pale faces, having lost all of their arrogance.

The document just sent by their hired forensic team stated the impossible: the wreckage of Julian's car that fell into the Long Island ravine had been successfully evacuated in secret, but there was no trace of DNA or the remains of Julian's body there.

"Father... so do you mean, Julian is still alive?" asked Ryan with a trembling voice. His hands were cold. "But that is an extraordinarily deep ravine! The car exploded! How could he possibly survive?"

"If he is dead, where is his corpse?!" barked Arthur, the veins on his neck bulging red.

Before that panic subsided, the office door was knocked roughly. A secretary entered with a pale face, bringing a letter with a black wax seal bearing a rose emblem—the emblem of the late Rose, Julian's biological mother.

"M-Master... there is a lawyer named Edward Harris outside. He brought an official will from the late Madame Rose," said the secretary in fear.

Valerie stood up from her chair instantly. "Edward Harris? That old lawyer who used to lock half of Rose's personal assets? Why did he come now?!"

Without permission, a middle-aged man in a neat suit and black sunglasses stepped into the room. It was Edward Harris. His gaze was sharp, without a single shred of fear toward Arthur Vance.

"Good morning, Mr. Arthur," greeted Edward with a cold tone. He placed a black briefcase on top of the table. "I have come to deliver the final warning from the party of the late Madame Rose Vance."

Arthur narrowed his eyes, withholding his anger. "Julian is dead, Edward. His inheritance right is automatically void."

"Dead?" Edward smiled cynically, adjusting the position of his black sunglasses. "Under New York law, a person is only declared dead if there is a corpse or valid DNA evidence. And all of us in this room know... you possess neither."

Edward unlatched the lock of his briefcase, pulling out a sheet of lawsuit draft for the total asset freezing of Vance Corporation.

"I am giving thirty days," continued Edward with a voice full of emphasis. "If Julian does not return to sign the asset surrender documents, then all the remaining main shares and the business network you manage currently will be locked by the court under the order of his late mother's foundation. Enjoy the remainder of your days before you are poor, Gentlemen."

Without waiting for an answer, Edward turned and walked away, leaving the room which now suddenly felt as cold as ice.

Valerie held Arthur's arm in panic. "Arthur! Do something! That old man does not know where Julian is, but he is deliberately buying time! What if all the cyber terror and the destruction of my auction yesterday... were actually the doings of Julian hiding somewhere?"

Arthur did not answer. His brain spun hard, searching for a way to master all of those assets before the time limit ran out. A fear he had never felt before began to creep up the back of his neck.

Meanwhile, at a small coffee shop in the lower district, Julian was sitting casually enjoying his morning breakfast together with Chloe Miller. The atmosphere around them was quite bustling with the laughter of other patrons.

"Ian, why do you keep daydreaming? Your coffee will get cold later," chided Chloe while waving a hand in front of Julian's face.

Julian flinched slightly, then donned a thin smile. "It's nothing. Just thinking about work."

Beneath the table, Julian's phone vibrated. His System screen brought forth a highly unexpected emergency notification.

[Warning: Third Party Detected.]

[Lawyer Edward Harris (Envoy of Master's Late Biological Mother) Has Officially Launched an Asset Freezing Lawsuit Against the Vance Family.]

[Master's Current Status: Lawyer Edward Assumes Master Is Still Alive, Yet He Does Not Know Master's Current Whereabouts.]

Julian stared at his phone screen with narrowing eyes. His heart beat a little faster.

Mother's lawyer? So... Mother still left a secret protector for me? thought Julian, a feeling of warmth as well as extreme surprise arising in his chest.

"Ian? You are truly strange today," spoken Chloe again, staring at Julian in confusion because that man's expression suddenly turned serious.

Julian hurriedly put his phone into his pocket, then stared at Chloe with a deep gentleness. "I am fine, Chloe. Just feeling... this game seems like it will become many times more interesting than my expectation."