PART 2: THE LIQUIDATION
The high-pitched screams of the wealthy elite echoed through the ballroom as federal agents quickly surrounded the Miller family. The pristine white roses decorating the tables were knocked over in the chaos, and glasses of expensive champagne shattered against the marble floor.
Thomas stood frozen, his mouth hanging open, looking at his phone screen and then at me. "Victoria Vance? No... that’s impossible. You're an orphan. We checked your records! You grew up in a shelter!"
"I grew up in hiding, Thomas," I said, my voice steady and cold as I stood in my ruined wedding dress. "My grandfather, corporate titan corporate savior Lawrence Vance, kept my identity a closely guarded secret after my parents died twenty years ago. He knew your family was predatory. He wanted me to see your true colors before I ever handed you a single dime of the Vance fortune."
Thomas's mother stepped back, her hand flying to her diamond necklace. "This is a mistake! Officers, remove this lying girl! She's trying to scam us!"
"Shut up, Margaret," a booming voice echoed from the entrance.
A middle-aged man holding a reinforced golden briefcase walked through the crowd of black-tied guests, flanked by two corporate attorneys. It was Arthur Pendelton, the chief legal counsel for the Vanguard Group. He walked straight to me and bowed deeply.
"Ms. Vance," Arthur said, his voice carrying through the silent room. "The hostile takeover is 100% complete. We bought out forty-five percent of the public shares in the last three minutes, and three of their largest board members just flipped their voting rights to us in exchange for debt immunity. You now own sixty-one percent of Miller Enterprises."
Thomas's father collapsed onto his knees right into the pool of spilled champagne. "No... please... Arthur, we can talk about this. We've been business partners for years!"
"We were never partners, Richard," Arthur replied with unyielding disgust. "You were parasites living on our grace. And tonight, your host has decided to cut you off."
I walked over to Thomas, my heels clicking sharply against the stone. I reached down and picked up the $10,000 check his mother had thrown at me. I folded it neatly and slipped it into the breast pocket of Thomas’s pristine white tuxedo jacket.
"Keep it," I whispered, my breath hot against his pale cheek. "You're going to need it for commissary. Because the hostile takeover isn't the only thing Vanguard initiated tonight."
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Thomas trembled, his eyes wide with terror. "What do you mean?"
Arthur opened the golden briefcase, pulling out a thick, official document bearing the seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. "Mr. Miller, while we were acquiring your shares, we also handed over twenty years of your company’s internal accounting ledgers to the authorities. The fraud, the offshore money laundering, and the illegal shipping routes you shared with Chloe’s family... it’s all in federal hands now."
