Chapter 4 - The Ultimate Betrayal
Chloe sat in the corner of an upscale lounge, her mascara ruined, downing her third glass of scotch. Her phone was ringing constantly, but she ignored it. Her father had just been detained by federal agents for tax fraud, and her family’s assets were being seized one by one.
"It’s not fair..." she whimpered to herself. "It’s not fair!"
"Looking for revenge, darling?"
A smooth, deep voice spoke from the shadow of the booth next to her. Chloe turned to see a middle-aged man with silver hair, wearing an Italian suit and sipping a glass of bourbon.
"Who are you?" Chloe hissed, wiping her cheeks.
"I’m Marcus Vance," the man said, offering a tight, cruel smile. "And I believe we have a mutual problem named Liam."
Chloe’s breath hitched. "You’re his uncle..."
"I am the rightful head of Vance Enterprises," Marcus corrected her smoothly. "My fool of a nephew tried to play peasant, and my sister tried to play martyr. But tonight, it all ends. I know what happened on the street, Chloe. I know how they humiliated you."
Marcus reached across the table and slid a small, silver pen into her trembling hand.
"This is a high-frequency recording device," Marcus whispered. "Liam is currently surrounded at the estate. He thinks he’s lost. But my sources tell me he keeps a secondary vault key in a safe at his private apartment—the place he stayed with you. I need you to go there, get that key, and bring it to me at the board meeting tomorrow."
"Why would I help you?" Chloe demanded, her eyes narrowing.
"Because," Marcus leaned in, his voice dripping with venom, "if I take full control of Vance Enterprises, I will restore your family’s credit lines. I will make sure your father walks free. And most importantly... you will watch Liam crumble to nothing. You will be the one who puts the nail in his coffin."
Chloe looked down at the silver pen. The humiliation of the icy street flashed through her mind—Liam’s cold eyes, the shattered ring, the old woman’s slap.
A dark, bitter hatred bubbled up from the bottom of her heart.
"Deal," Chloe spat.
Meanwhile, back at the Vance Estate, the situation was dire.
Victoria held the flash drive between her fingers, taunting Liam and Evelyn. "Marcus sends his regards, Mrs. Vance. He knew you’d try to use the public street meet-up to bypass his digital surveillance. It was a good plan. Too bad I was watching your son’s every move."
"Victoria," Liam said, his voice dropping an octave, his fists clenching at his sides. "I trusted you. You managed my entire life for two years."
"And you paid me a middle-management salary while sitting on a fortune!" Victoria snapped, her face twisting with sudden rage. "You played game with people’s lives, Liam! Playing 'poor boy' while real people suffer! You deserve everything coming to you!"
"Is that what Marcus told you?" Evelyn spoke up, taking a slow step toward Victoria.
"Stay back, old woman!" one of the armed guards ordered, raising his rifle.
Evelyn didn't stop. She looked directly into Victoria’s eyes. "Marcus promised you twenty million dollars and a seat on the board, didn't he?"
Victoria flinched slightly. "How... how do you—"
"Because that’s what he promised the last three executives who helped him attempt a takeover," Evelyn said, her voice filled with pity. "Check news reports from three years ago, Victoria. Where is Arthur Pendelton? Where is Sarah Chen? They’re both serving twenty-year sentences in federal prison for crimes Marcus committed, while he walked away clean."
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Victoria’s confidence wavered for a fraction of a second. "You’re lying."
"Am I?" Evelyn reached into her coat pocket. The guards tensed, but she simply pulled out a thin, black smartphone. "Dial the number on that drive, Victoria. See if the offshore account Marcus opened for you actually exists. Or see if it’s registered under your name as a shell company for illegal weapons trading."
