Chapter 4 - The Threat from the ShadowsReclaiming my life felt like reassembling broken porcelain. With Dominic behind bars, I moved back into the estate, changing all the locks, hiring private security, and taking over as CEO of Vance Construction.
Employees who had once ignored me under Dominic’s rule were now stunned to find out that I was the actual brain behind the company’s operating algorithms. Within two weeks, I restructured the management, cut off Victoria’s illicit shell accounts, and handed the forensic accounting evidence over to the federal grand jury.
Then, on a stormy Tuesday evening, my phone buzzed with an unknown caller ID.
I hesitated before answering. "Hello?"
"You think you’ve won, don't you, little girl?" Victoria’s voice came through the line, cold and dark. She was out on high bail, protected by her husband's lingering connections.
"You’re violating your restraining order, Victoria," I said calmly, hovering my finger over the record button.
"Go ahead, record it," she sneered. "Dominic might be behind bars, but you haven't seen the whole picture. My family built this city. Do you really think a few lines of code and a burn mark are going to destroy us? You have 48 hours to drop the charges and transfer the trust back to my son. If you don't... the secrets your grandmother hid from you will ruin your life forever."
My breath hitched. "What are you talking about?"
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"Ask yourself, Maya," Victoria whispered softly, "why did your grandmother leave that trust with such specific clauses about our family? She didn't protect you from us. She bound you to us."
The line went dead.
