They laughed at the paralyzed billionaire in his wheelchair, completely unaware that his legs worked fine—and he was taking notes on every single one of them.

Clara ran up the secondary service stairs, her hand clutching her chest, until she reached the heavy doors of my private master suite. She knocked frantically, three sharp taps.

The door swung open instantly.

Expectant of Harrison or Marcus, I was standing fully upright, wearing a black charcoal suit, adjusting my cuffs.

Clara gasped, dropping her tray of towels to the floor. Her eyes widened in absolute shock as she saw me—standing tall, posture imposing, feet firmly planted on the floor without a wheelchair in sight.

"Mr. Sterling... you... you can walk?" she stammered, backing up a step in confusion.

I moved with quiet speed, catching her by the arm and pulling her gently inside the room, shutting and locking the door behind her.

"Clara, calm down," I said softly, looking into her frantic eyes. "Yes. I can walk. I was never paralyzed."

"They... they tampered with your car!" she gasped, tears springing to her eyes from adrenaline and panic. "I just heard them! Miss Vance and Mr. Daniel in the conservatory... they cut your brake line! They're planning to take your company tomorrow and send you away to a facility in Oregon!"

My gaze darkened. The piece of the puzzle was complete. Hearing her confirm Daniel and Vanessa’s direct physical treason ignited a cold, ruthless fury inside me.

"I know, Clara," I said quietly, placing my hands gently on her shoulders to steady her breathing. "I've known about their betrayal since the night of the accident."

Clara looked up at me, processing the reality. "You... you've been pretending this whole time?"

"It was the only way to pull every traitor out from the shadows," I explained. "If I had returned healthy, they would have hidden their motives and tried again. By pretending to be helpless, I gave them the confidence to expose their greed, their crimes, and their paper trails."

Clara let out a shaky breath, her hands trembling. "You put yourself in so much danger..."

"And you just put yourself in danger by coming up here to protect me," I said softly, touching her cheek gently. "Why did you risk your job—your safety—to tell me this?"

"Because you are a good man, Julian," she whispered, using my first name for the very first time. "And no one deserves to be destroyed by the people they trusted."