All Chapters of Claimed By The Voss Twins : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Eli's povI found out what Celeste did from Viktor.He called me directly, which he never did. Nico was always the contact point. Me reaching out to Viktor was protocol breach."Your wife just confirmed the twin situation to Dante Ferraro," Viktor said without preamble. "Thought you should know before Nico tears the house apart.""When?""Today. Lunch meeting. She traded information for a guarantee that Dante would leave her sister alone.""And you know this how?""Because Dante called me. Wanted to verify what Celeste told him. See if I'd confirm it.""Did you?""I told him I don't discuss internal family matters with outsiders. But the damage is done. He knows. And he's smart enough to use it eventually."Viktor hung up. I sat in my studio, the place I went when being invisible got too heavy, and thought about what this meant.Celeste had made a move. Unilateral. Dangerous. Without consulting anyone.Exactly what I would have done in her position.I found Nico in his office an hour

Nico's PovI told Celeste everything after that conversation.Not because I suddenly trusted her completely. But because she was right. Partnership requires information. And I'd been operating on the assumption that controlling what she knew would keep her safe.It hadn't. It had just made her operate in the dark and make moves I couldn't predict.We sat in my office late one evening. The house quiet around us."Our father died when we were sixteen," I started. "Not publicly. He had a stroke. Lingered for three weeks. During that time he rewrote his will. Made the twin arrangement legally binding. Made it clear that if either of us broke the agreement, we'd lose everything.""Both of you? Or just Eli?""Both. He wanted to ensure we'd stay committed. Stay invisible on his terms.""That's cruel.""That's control. Which was his specialty.""And your mother? Lena?""Supported it. She thought it was the best way to keep the empire stable. Keep us compliant.""Did you want to break the agre

Eli's Pov The board meeting lasted four hours.Nico presented the truth in surgical detail. The arrangement. The hidden heir. The legal framework our father had built. All of it. No omissions. No softening the edges.Some board members looked angry. Some looked betrayed. Most looked calculating, trying to figure out how this affected their positions.Viktor looked satisfied. Like he'd won before we even started talking."This is fraud," he said when Nico finished. "Hiding an heir. Misrepresenting succession. I'm calling for a formal challenge to the will.""You can try," Nico said calmly. "But we're fully transparent now. We're restructuring voluntarily. Both heirs public. Equal partnership. New bylaws. New operational framework. That removes your argument.""It removes nothing. Your father's will is clear. You're sole heir, Nico. Eli has no claim unless you're found unfit.""Then I'm voluntarily restructuring the will. Both of us as co-heirs. Equal authority. Equal responsibility."

Nico's Pov The first real test came two weeks after Lena left.A major contract fell through. One of our oldest suppliers suddenly pulled out. Said the instability of the dual leadership made them uncomfortable. They were taking their business to Viktor's faction instead.Eli wanted to chase them down. Offer incentives. Try to keep the contract.I wanted to let them go. Find new suppliers. Prove we didn't need the old alliances.We argued about it in my office for an hour."You're being stubborn," Eli said."You're being desperate. We can't keep every relationship. Some will fracture. That's the cost of being visible.""It's the cost of your refusal to compromise.""Compromise on what? Our authority? Our vision? We agreed to partnership, not consensus on every decision.""Partnership means considering my opinion. Not just dismissing it.""I'm not dismissing it. I'm disagreeing with it. That's different.""Is it? Because it sounds the same from where I'm standing."We were both angry.

Eli's Pov A year after breaking the arrangement, the empire stabilized.Not intact. Changed fundamentally. But stable. Functional. Operating under our partnership instead of our father's ghost.Viktor's legal challenges went nowhere. The board accepted the dual leadership. Employees adapted. Some left. New ones came. The machinery adjusted.Nico and I developed a rhythm. Not effortless. But workable. We disagreed regularly. Resolved it through the framework we'd built. Respected each other's authority in our designated areas.It wasn't the warm brotherhood I'd imagined. But it was real. And real was better than performance.Celeste existed in the margins of both of us. Married to Nico legally. Close to me practically. Never choosing. Never having to. We developed an understanding that worked for all three of us.One evening, she asked: "Are you happy?"We were in my studio. The place where I existed when being invisible got too heavy. Now it was just the place where I worked. Where I