Chapter 6 - THE ULTIMATE TWIST AND THE NEW KINGDOM
"THE TRUE REASON BEHIND HIS RISE—AND THE UNEXPECTED HEIR WHO INHERITED THE RUINS"
Three months later.
The wreckage of Vanguard Development was bought out at a public bankruptcy auction. The buyer was a newly formed entity: The Jonah Prescott Memorial Foundation.
The foundation was dedicated to funding healthcare for low-income mothers and providing housing projects for families on the South Side—the very people Chase had planned to displace for his luxury high-rises.
Adeline stood on the balcony of the Prescott Group’s flagship building. The wind whipped her short hair, but she felt entirely warm.
William Prescott walked out to join her, leaning on his cane. He looked at his granddaughter with immense pride. "The South Side project breaks ground tomorrow, Addie. Under your real name."
"Thank you, Grandfather," she said.
"There is someone here to see you," William said, gesturing toward the door.
Adeline turned.
A tall man in a simple navy suit walked out onto the balcony. He had a kind, rugged face and hands that showed the calluses of hard work. It was Leo Sterling, the lead foreman from the South Side site where Adeline and Chase had first met three years ago.
Leo had been the one who secretly alerted Nolan that Adeline was living in a modest apartment under an assumed name, protecting her from afar because he had always loved her—honestly, quietly, and without expecting anything in return.
"You look like yourself again," Leo said, a gentle smile touching his lips.
"I feel like myself," Adeline replied, walking over to him.
But the final twist of the Prescott legacy was yet to be revealed.
Down in the Cook County correctional facility, Chase sat in his orange jumpsuit, staring at a visitor behind the glass.
It wasn't Adeline. It was a lawyer he had never seen before, carrying a sealed envelope.
"What is this?" Chase asked, his voice hollow. "A plea deal?"
"No, Mr. Vance," the lawyer said, sliding a document through the slot. "This is the final execution of the Prescott Trust. Three years ago, when you married Adeline, her grandfather William set up a protective clause. If you had remained married to her for five years, fifty percent of the Prescott holdings would have automatically transferred to your name as her spouse."
Chase froze. He stared at the document.
"You mean..." he whispered, his voice trembling violently. "If I had just... if I had just loved her..."
"If you had been a good husband for two more years," the lawyer said, his voice completely devoid of sympathy, "you would have legally been a multi-billionaire. You didn't need Brielle’s father. You didn't need to forge patents. You were already holding the key to the kingdom."
The lawyer stood up, packing his briefcase. "But instead, you wanted a shortcut. Enjoy your twenty-year sentence, Mr. Vance."
May you like
The heavy steel door slammed shut.
Chase was left alone in the cold visitor’s booth. He pressed his forehead against the glass, the ghost of a baby’s laughter echoing in his mind, while outside, the towering skyscrapers Adeline had built rose higher and higher into the Chicago sky, forever out of his reach.
