Page 192 of Secret Heir For The Billionaire Twin

The afternoon ends where I expected it would.

With Julian.

He is already seated when I enter his office, one hand resting near a closed file, his expression unreadable.

“Ms. Callahan.”

“Mr. Blackwell.”

I take the chair across from him. Nothing about the greeting sounds personal.

That is intentional.

We begin with the restructuring, then move into the company’s post-investigation growth and the shift in long-term strategy. Julian answers in clipped, exact language, never giving me more than the question requires.

I do the same.

Seven years of history sit between us while we discuss capital allocation and governance as though that is all we have ever been to each other.

By the time I leave his office, I have ten pages of notes and the unmistakable sense that Blackwell remembers me differently than I remember myself. I return to the temporary office they assigned me and close the door behind me. For now, that is enough.

***

The next afternoon, I am back across from Julian with my recorder between us and a fresh page open in my notebook. We have been talking for nearly forty minutes about Blackwell’s expansion strategy when Julian shifts the conversation toward the West Coast.

“Vanguard Business Journal is based in California, correct?” Julian asks.

“The West Coast operation is,” I reply.

“I’m based out of Los Angeles.”

Julian nods once.

“So you live there?”

“Yes.”

“Full time?”

“Yes.”

His gaze stays on me for a moment longer.

“How long?”

“Almost seven years.”

Something unreadable passes through his expression.

“And Vanguard Business?” he asks.

“A little under five.”

Julian leans back slightly.

“So California came first?”

“Yes.”