Page 105 of Secret Heir For The Billionaire Twin

“If there were no Blackwell board, no family expectation, no company that needed you, what would your life actually look like?”

For several seconds, Julian says nothing. Then he turns toward the doorway.

“Come outside.”

I follow him without hesitation.

We step onto a terrace that opens toward the gardens, and the afternoon has softened while we were inside. Sunlight lies across the gravel paths, warm against clipped hedges and white roses climbing one of the stone walls. Beyond the garden, the lake glitters between the trees.

Julian walks beside me at an easy pace.

“I’d still build things,” he says.

I glance toward him.

“That part wouldn’t change?”

“No.”

“What would?”

He takes several steps before answering.

“The scale.”

I wait.

“I don’t think I ever wanted thousands of people depending on every decision I make,” he says.

“Or to know that if I make the wrong one, it doesn’t stop with me.”

His hands slip into his pockets.

“I would’ve liked to finish something and simply be done with it.”

The admission sounds almost foreign coming from him.

“No board meeting afterward?”

“No.”

“No investors calling?”

“Definitely not.”

I smile. Julian looks toward me, and the tension around his mouth eases.

“Maybe a smaller company,” he continues.

“A lab. A few people I trust. Enough room to work without becoming the story.”

“That sounds suspiciously peaceful.”

“It does.”

“Would you know what to do with peaceful?”

His gaze sharpens with amusement.