Chapter 24 - The Sterling Bloodline
The boardroom erupted into chaos. Two directors immediately tendered their verbal resignations, terrified of being implicated in three decades of federal wire fraud and securities manipulation. Julian stood frozen, clutching his briefcase against his chest like a shield, realizing with agonizing slowness that the golden parachute Marianne had promised him was nothing more than an anchor dragging him down into federal prison.
"Get out," I told Julian, my voice dropping so low it cut straight through his panic.
He blinked at me, his lip trembling, the arrogant playboy who had ruined our marriage stripped down to his pathetic core. "Elena... please. Marianne told me—she swore to me that if I helped her freeze your personal liquidity, she would grant my firm the regional distribution rights. I didn't know about any of this! I swear to God I didn't know!"
"You didn't care to know," Daniel intervened, his hand clamping onto Julian's shoulder with enough pressure to force him toward the exit. "You were happy to feast on the scraps of a stolen empire as long as it funded your lifestyle. The marshals are waiting in the lobby, Julian. You have twenty minutes to retain a criminal defense attorney before the freeze hits your personal checking."
Julian stumbled out of the room, looking like a man who had just stepped onto a trapdoor.
Marianne, however, did not flinch. She sat perfectly composed, her ivory coat still buttoned, watching the board members scatter until only she, Daniel, and I remained in the cavernous room.
"You really believe Arthur Sterling came back out of sentimentality?" she asked, her voice dropping to a smooth, chilling purr. "You think he drove through the mountain fog last night because he loves the granddaughter he hasn't seen in thirty years?"
"He came back for the truth," I said, resting my palms flat on the cold obsidian table.
Marianne laughed—a dry, brittle sound that echoed off the plate-glass windows overlooking the city. "Arthur Sterling is a monster, Victoria. You carry his blood, and you think that makes you righteous? Let me tell you about the man you're so eager to embrace."
She stood up slowly, smoothing the wrinkles from her skirt with agonizing deliberation.
"Arthur didn't lose his patents because I stole them," Marianne said, stepping toward the panoramic window, looking out over the sprawling empire below. "Julianna—your mother—was terrified of him. Arthur was conducting illicit bio-genetic trials on local agricultural soil. When Julianna threatened to take the research to the federal authorities, Arthur sabotaged her car. He meant to kill her, Victoria. But he didn't realize you were strapped in the back seat."
The air left my lungs in a sharp gasp. I stared at her back, the blood roaring in my ears. "You're lying."
"Your grandfather pulled you from that burning wreck on Route 9," Marianne turned, her grey eyes burning with an intense, pathological conviction. "Julianna was already dead. Arthur fled the country before the state troopers could execute the arrest warrant. Your grandfather and I made a pact. We buried the Sterling name to save you from being branded the daughter of a murderer. We absorbed the patents so the technology wouldn't fall into the hands of Arthur’s creditors."
"And the forged adoption?" Daniel demanded sharply. "The secret off-shore trust diverting eight million dollars a year into private accounts in the Caymans under your maiden name? Was that to protect her too, Mrs. Vance?"
Marianne’s expression hardened into flint. "That was my fee for raising another woman's child. I turned a cursed bastard into the most respected heiress in the state. I gave you everything, Elena. And you repaid me by inviting the devil back into our house."
"If Arthur is a fugitive murderer," I asked, my voice trembling with controlled fury, "why isn't he in handcuffs? Why did he have access to Grandfather's private archives?"
"Because your grandfather betrayed me on his deathbed," Marianne snapped, the venom finally breaking through her composed veneer. "He grew sentimental in his old age. He started feeling guilty for erasing Arthur. He sent word to Europe. He invited Arthur back."
She stepped close to me, stopping only inches away. I could smell her familiar perfume—jasmine and expensive tobacco—a scent that had once brought me comfort when I was a frightened child, now turning my stomach with disgust.
"Arthur didn't come to save you, Victoria," she whispered into my ear. "He came to take back what he believes is his. And when he's done using you to tear down my corporate structure, he will discard you just like he discarded your mother."
Before I could reply, my phone vibrated in my palm.
A new message from the unlisted satellite number:
*The lioness will always tell the cub that the hunter is the monster. Meet me at the Old Mill at midnight, Victoria. Come alone, or bring your soldier Daniel. But if Marianne’s hounds follow you, the truth about what happened on Route 9 will burn with me.*
I looked up from the screen. Marianne was watching me, her eyes narrowing as she saw the pale glow reflecting in my pupils.
"He contacted you, didn't he?" she asked softly.
"Pack your personal belongings, Marianne," I said, refusing to give her an inch of ground. "By five o'clock today, your access card to Vance Tower will be revoked. The board has adjourned."
Marianne picked up her crocodile-skin bag, her movements slow, elegant, and devoid of fear.
May you like
"I built this kingdom from ash, little girl," she said, pausing at the threshold of the boardroom doors. "And I would rather burn every acre of Bramble Court to the ground than watch a Sterling sit upon the throne."
***
