Seeing that all the board members had reviewed the transfer document, Julian turned his head to look at Mr. Harrison.

Mr. Harrison nodded, retrieved a specific document from his briefcase, and walked over to Ethan's side.

"Young Master, please allow me to announce the final clause of Old Mr. Vance's will."

The moment those words were spoken, everyone in the room—except for Julian—was thoroughly stunned.

Ethan was the first to react, his expression darkening completely. "What do you mean by that?"

Mr. Harrison explained in a flat, even tone, "Back then, there was one final clause of the patriarch's will that was not announced."

However, such a brief explanation was far from enough to untangle the profound confusion and burning curiosity consuming everyone present.

The joy on Janice's face hadn't even faded, yet a trace of a terrible foreboding already surfaced in her heart.

"Didn't you say that a specific prerequisite had to be met before the final clause could be announced?" a board member questioned.

Mr. Harrison opened the file unhurriedly and stated, "That prerequisite has already taken place."

Chapter 34: Out of Character

Those words were like a boulder dropped into a calm pond, sending a massive shockwave through everyone in the room.

His brows knit tightly, a mixture of bewilderment and defensive caution flashing through his eyes. His raw intuition told him that this final clause of the will was exceptionally unfavorable to him.

But no matter how unfavorable it was, so what? He was already the CEO!

Her hands gradually clenched tighter at her sides, her heart leaping entirely into her throat.

She stared at him from a mere few meters away, feeling as though she could vividly sense his sudden, suffocating tension.

The lawyer scanned the room, the collective gaze of every single person present locking onto his figure.

Staring down at the final lines of the will, he raised his voice several decibels: "Eighth. In the event that Ethan Vance and Seraphina Cross divorce, and the shares of Vance Enterprises held by Seraphina Cross are announced by Ethan Vance to be transferred to another party, the inheritance of Vance Enterprises held by Ethan Vance shall be formally transferred in its entirety to the Vance family's adopted son, Julian Vance."

Those few short lines exploded like a bomb inside the boardroom.

The shareholders immediately burst into a frantic, chaotic chatter, endlessly whispering about what on earth the old patriarch had been thinking to hand his hard-earned empire over to an adopted son.

Closing the file, the lawyer looked toward the entirely paralyzed Ethan, a faint trace of disappointment passing through his eyes.

While the patriarch was alive, he had always served as the legal counsel for Vance Enterprises, so he naturally understood the starkly different temperaments of the two brothers.

Although Julian was an adopted son, he had enjoyed the absolute trust of the patriarch. He possessed a calm, steady disposition and had contributed to the firm for several years with great magnanimity.

Yet Ethan...

The lawyer let out a silent, weary sigh. In his eyes, Ethan was merely a cut above the average wealthy socialite, thoroughly unsuited to be the leader of an empire like Vance Enterprises.

Her shock was not a single fraction less than his.

Even if she had racked her brains, she never would have imagined the patriarch would write such a will, binding Ethan and her together in an absolute, unbreakable stranglehold.

Janice bolted out of her chair, her screeching voice sounding like a piece of chalk scraping violently across a blackboard: "That's impossible! You must be colluding with Julian Vance, aren't you?!"

How could this be! How could the old man have done something so thoroughly idiotic! This was Vance Enterprises, for heaven's sake! How could it possibly fall into the hands of an outsider!

The lawyer replied chillingly, "If you doubt it, Miss Miller, I have the handwritten copy penned by the patriarch himself right here."

Janice was instantly choked of her words, turning her frantic eyes toward the silent Ethan, desperately wanting him to offer some rebuttal.

The wild delusion in Ethan's dilated pupils slowly faded. Staring at the expressionless Julian a few meters away, his mind and soul went completely blank.

The fury, possessive jealousy, and hatred seemed to be utterly wiped away in a single flash.

He felt entirely like a wild beast that had stepped directly into a trap laid out by a seasoned hunter.

Even though the patriarch was already dead, he was still being played ruthlessly in the palm of the old man's hand.

Yet, not a single shareholder present stood up to voice any objection. They didn't particularly care whether Vance Enterprises was inherited by a biological grandson; they cared solely about the company's financial interests and its future stability.

Ethan was undeniably inferior to Julian, and that was an absolute fact.

The air in the room seemed to solidify into ice. A trace of emotion finally filtered back into Ethan's dark eyes. He stared at Julian, gritting his teeth into a bitter smile. "You knew all along, didn't you?"

Julian replied flatly,

"I advised you more than once."

Her hands clenched tighter and tighter. She bit her lower lip until it turned pale, unexpectedly feeling a small pang of heartache facing his sudden downfall.

She knew his relationship with his grandfather had always been strained, but the current reality had driven him straight into absolute hell.

Ethan dropped his gaze, locking onto her face.

What on earth was that look in her eyes? Was it pity and compassion? Or was she mocking him for plummeting from the heavens into a bottomless abyss?

For the first time in his life, Ethan felt a burning, unyielding humiliation. He clenched his fists tightly and charged out of the room.

Chapter 35: Go If You Want to

Seeing Ethan depart, Janice was filled with pure fury and resentment. She had never imagined that after all her plotting, she would walk away with absolutely nothing, while everything fell right into Seraphina's lap.

Snatching up her bag, she strode out of the boardroom in a rage, shooting Seraphina a venomous, sharp glare as she passed.

Seraphina stood up, completely unconcerned by Janice's hostility.

Where could Ethan have gone in his current state?

She couldn't stop her heart from suspending in worry; this blow was truly far too devastating for him.

Before the shareholders could crowd around him to speak, Julian lowered his voice and said to Seraphina, "Go find him if you want to."

A flash of clarity filled her eyes. Nodding to Julian, she grabbed her bag and strode out.

Watching her retreating back, a trace of loneliness inevitably filtered into Julian's eyes.

The reason he had urged Seraphina to go after Ethan was precisely because he understood him. Ethan had always stubbornly believed that Seraphina married him solely for money and status, and he had used his absolute possession of Vance Enterprises as his capital to look down upon everyone else.

Now that he had been stripped of everything, there was absolutely no way he could maintain his previous pride facing Seraphina.

Julian let out a helpless, slightly mocking chuckle. Whether it was Vance Enterprises or his own chance at love, Ethan had completely destroyed them with his own hands.

Outside the Vance Enterprises building.

Seraphina was panting slightly, looking left and right, yet Ethan's silhouette was nowhere to be seen.

Leo had stated that he hadn't returned to the CEO's office but had left the building entirely, yet he had vanished into thin air in just a few moments.

Her brows knit tightly. The moment she spotted a black Bentley driving past, her eyes lit up, and she frantically flagged down a taxi on the street.

Climbing inside, she pointed in the direction of Ethan's car.

The driver was quick-witted, immediately understanding her intent and steering the taxi to tail closely behind the Bentley.

The car came to a halt at the gates of the estate. Before the taxi could even settle to a complete stop, Seraphina saw Ethan stepping out of the vehicle, stumbling inside without even shutting his car door.

Seraphina hurriedly paid the fare and bolted over to shut his car door before turning to look at this villa she had inhabited for three long years, the rims of her eyes turning slightly warm.

Step by step, she approached the grand front door. She raised her hand firmly, intending to knock, but her movement abruptly froze.

It was only after chasing him all the way here that she was struck by a sudden confusion over why she was doing this... Seraphina let her hand drop heavily, the light in her eyes gradually fading.

To Ethan, this kind of gesture would likely look redundant, or perhaps he would simply believe she had come to witness his humiliation.

Letting out a soft sigh, she turned to depart, but after taking a few steps down the stone stairs, her legs simply refused to move another inch.