Chapter 27 - Victoria's Desperation
Within three hours, federal agents had cleared out the forty-first floor. Julian Rothschild had been taken into federal custody under a provisional warrant for money laundering, wire fraud, and violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
The board of directors unanimously reaffirmed David as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, ratifying an emergency resolution that expelled all Rothschild influence from the company’s charter forever.
Outside, the Chicago sky opened up, rain pounding furiously against the glass towers of the Loop.
I walked down the quiet hallway of the Vance Tower executive suite, carrying a box of personal documents, when a shadow moved from behind the marble pillars near the private elevator bay.
It was Victoria.
Her scarlet designer jacket was disheveled, her immaculate hair tangled and wet from the rain outside. Her expensive purse hung limply from her arm, and her face was stripped of its haughty veneer. For the first time in the six years I had known her, Victoria Ross looked completely, utterly shattered.
“Claire,” she whispered, stepping into the dim light.
Two private security guards instantly moved to block her path, but I raised my hand, stopping them.
“Leave us,” I commanded quietly. The guards hesitated, then stepped back ten paces.
“Why are you still in this building, Victoria?” I asked, my voice devoid of anger, containing only the cold exhaustion of a victor who was tired of the fight. “Julian’s legal team has already abandoned you. He filed an affidavit thirty minutes ago claiming you were the sole conspirator behind the Chicago extortion scheme.”
Victoria flinched as if I had struck her across the face. A bitter, hysterical laugh broke from her cracked lips.
“Julian... he promised me my mother’s name would be recognized,” she stammered, her hands trembling violently. “He promised that if I destroyed you—if I took David and broke the Vance empire—he would grant me my share of the Rothschild trust. He told me I was his sister!”
“You were never his sister, Victoria,” I said, stepping closer, looking straight into those green eyes that had haunted my marriage for years. “You were a tool he picked up from the gutter because you had an uncanny knack for cruelty and seduction. You let your hatred of me blind you to the fact that you were disposable.”
“I didn't hate you!” Victoria screamed, her voice cracking, echoing through the empty, darkened executive foyer. “I envied you! You had everything! David looked at you like you were the only woman in the universe! Even at that birthday dinner... even when I sat on his lap, pressed against him, whispering in his ear... his eyes never left the restroom door waiting for you to walk back out! He never touched me, Claire! He shoved me off him the second you appeared!”
The revelation hung in the air, heavy and absolute.
I remembered the agony of that night—the sheer, suffocating humiliation of seeing her draped over my husband. But now, seeing her shivering in the shadows, an abandoned ghost of her own vanity, the last lingering shard of doubt in my soul melted into pure steel.
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“I know he didn't touch you,” I said calmly. “Because unlike you, Victoria, David knows what true loyalty costs. And you will never have it.”
***
