Julian rushed to Clara’s side, dropping to his knees on the hard marble floor without giving a single glance to his mother. He gently wiped the orange liquid from Clara’s lips with his handkerchief, his hands shaking with genuine terror as he held her pale, tear-streaked face. "Clara, look at me! Did you swallow any of it?" he asked frantically, his voice breaking with fatherly devotion as he inspected her for injuries. Clara sobbed against his chest, shaking her head no while clinging to his suit jacket like a lifeline, pointing a trembling finger toward the glass shattered on the floor.
Julian stood up slowly, stepping between his wife’s wheelchair and his mother, his chest heaving as he stared down the woman who had raised him. Eleanor stammered out frantic excuses, claiming it was merely a harmless herbal vitamin drink intended to help with Clara’s fatigue, but Julian held up a single hand, silencing her lies instantly. He looked at the scattered medical papers on the floor, realizing his mother had been trying to terminate the pregnancy to keep control over the family trust fund. The illusion of a proud, honorable noble family had completely shattered right before his eyes.
"You are never touching my wife or my child again," Julian stated in a dangerously calm tone that carried absolute finality. He immediately called for the estate's private security team and personal paramedics to attend to Clara and Maria, ordering his mother to be confined to her private quarters pending a full criminal investigation. As the medics rushed in to ensure Clara and the baby were completely safe, Julian held his wife's hand tight, turning his back on his disgraced mother forever and taking the first step to rebuild their lives far away from the corruption of the Vance estate.