Chapter 6 - The Confrontation on the Landing
Donald Vance spun around just as Corbin reached the second-floor landing, his face contorting in shock.
"Stanford?" Donald stammered, stepping back. "What the hell are you doing here?"
Lianna stood inside the doorway of her cramped apartment, clutching little baby Austin tightly against her chest. Her eyes were wide, red-rimmed, and terrified, staring between Corbin and Donald as if she had lost her mind.
"Mr. Stanford?" she whispered, her voice cracking. "What... what is happening?"
Corbin ignored her for a fraction of a second, his gaze locked onto Donald Vance. With a single, controlled motion, Corbin grabbed the older man by the lapel of his expensive cashmere coat and slammed him against the peeling plaster wall of the hallway.
"Touch her again," Corbin said, his voice dropping into a register so chilling that even Donald stopped struggling, "and I will personally ensure you spend the rest of your natural life defending lawsuits you can't possibly win."
"You don't understand, Corbin!" Donald wheezed, his hands clawing at Corbin’s wrists. "She has the envelope! The blue envelope! Julian hid it before he died—the insurance policy against your father’s entire empire! She’s sitting on millions!"
Corbin slowly released his grip, letting Donald slump against the wall, coughing and adjusting his collar. Then, Corbin turned his head and looked directly at Lianna.
She was trembling, tears spilling over her eyelashes as she looked down at the floor inside her apartment.
Right beside the battered kitchen table sat a small, battered metal lockbox. And protruding from beneath it was the corner of an old, faded blue envelope.
May you like
"Lianna," Corbin said softly, stepping across the threshold of her home for the very first time. "Is that what I think it is?"
Lianna looked up, her expression a mix of profound grief and stubborn defiance. "Your father destroyed my husband," she whispered, her voice shaking. "He took everything from us. And all I wanted... all I wanted was enough money to buy milk for my son without begging my mother."
