Chapter 21

Nathan finally grinned. "Deal."

Julian signed the contract on the spot, then looked up at Dominic. "This is just the beginning. If you don't want a repeat, I suggest you return my sister to me."

Dominic let out a soft laugh, but there was no warmth in his eyes. "It's not that I won't. Claire doesn't want to see you."

The words struck like a blade. Ethan and Julian erupted in fury. "That's impossible! She'd never refuse to see us. You must have poisoned her against us."

Ethan's face was dark, his voice dripping with spite and misplaced pride. "Dominic, Claire and I grew up together. We were in love for years, inseparable every single day. Your little two-year fling doesn't come close to what we had."

Every trace of warmth drained from Dominic's face. "Childhood sweethearts. Inseparable." He repeated the words slowly, then looked up at them, his voice cold as steel. "So inseparable that you put a bounty on her head and posted her like a wanted criminal online?"

Ethan scoffed. "You don't understand. We were just trying to find her faster."

Julian cut in. "Mr. Ashford, Claire is my biological sister. No one is more worried about her than I am."

"If there were any other way, we wouldn't resort to all-out war. I'm only asking, as her brother, that you let me see her."

Dominic's expression was unreadable. "You plastered her face across the internet with a fortune attached, and every lowlife with a pulse came crawling out of the woodwork. She was nearly kidnapped — multiple times."

"If I hadn't been there, God knows what would have happened to her. And all of that was because of you. Yet you have the audacity to say you were worried about her."

Julian went rigid. But Ethan clenched his fists, every muscle taut with rage. "Kidnapped? If you hadn't kept her from us, she would have been safe with us all along."

Dominic said nothing more. It was Julian who eventually reached out to him directly. "These past two years, thank you for taking care of Claire. I suppose that makes you my brother-in-law now. All I'm asking for is one meeting."

Dominic ignored the request. Julian, having gotten his number through a business contact, began texting relentlessly. "My father has late-stage stomach cancer. He's been holding on just to see Claire one last time. If you truly love her, you wouldn't let her live with that regret."

Dominic brought it up with Claire. Her only response was a cold laugh. "I won't see him. And I won't regret it."

Dominic soothed her. "Then you won't go. Don't worry — I'm here. No one can force your hand."

His unwavering stance pushed the tension between the Ashford, Holloway, and Sterling families to a breaking point. The Sterlings poured staggering sums into blocking Ashford Group's projects and rallied other families in an attempt to crush them.

After Julian's repeated overtures went unanswered, the last of his civility evaporated. "I'd strongly advise you to reconsider. Otherwise, this is only the beginning."

Dominic was unfazed. As far as he was concerned, it was an invitation. If they wanted to dig their own graves, he had no reason to hold back.

But the two of them kept coming at him like rabid dogs. Ethan issued threat after threat. "I'm warning you — back off. I have more than enough ways to make you hand Claire over."

They even called the police to the Ashford estate, demanding Claire be released. In response, Claire formally severed all ties with the Sterling family and faced Julian and Ethan with eyes like ice.

"I would appreciate it if Mr. Sterling and Mr. Holloway would stop disrupting my life. Otherwise, I will be forced to take legal action."