Chapter 4 - The Keys to the Vault
The ballroom fell into an absolute, suffocating silence as Julian and I approached the main stage.
Seraphina’s smile completely vanished, her hand clutching her pearl necklace as her eyes locked onto mine.
"Allara?" Thaddeus stammered, stepping forward, his voice cracking beneath the soft hum of the chandeliers. "What are you doing here? Who let you into this event?"
"I don't need permission to enter a building built on my mother's land, Thaddeus," I said, my voice carrying clearly through the high-ceilinged room.
I walked directly onto the stage, stepping up to the auctioneer's podium.
Julian stepped beside me, opening a thick leather portfolio in full view of the two hundred high-society guests and corporate board members.
"Ladies and gentlemen," I announced, my voice steady, cool, and completely devoid of fear. "Tonight's auction was scheduled to offer the private development lease for the Hayes Harbor Terminal."
"A project Mr. Thaddeus Vance claimed to own through an exclusive corporate trust."
Thaddeus’s face turned an ashen, deathly shade of grey. He rushed toward the stage stairs. "Allara, stop this right now! Security, clear the stage! She’s having an emotional episode!"
"Touch her, and you’ll answer to the federal marshals waiting in the lobby, Thaddeus," Julian Vance warned, stepping into his younger brother's path with an authority that made Thaddeus freeze in his tracks.
I held up the golden key in my hand, letting the bright spotlight catch its intricate brass teeth.
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"This is the key to the presidential suite upstairs," I said, looking straight into Seraphina's eyes. "The room where Thaddeus spent the last seven years hiding the woman he swore he would marry."
"And this..." I pulled a crisp, black envelope from my clutch, "...is the certified forensic audit of the Hayes Harbor Trust, proving that Thaddeus Vance and Seraphina Sterling systematically forged my signature to steal $45 million in municipal real estate."
