Chapter 4 - THE INTERPOL CONNECTIONThe screen on my phone glowed softly in the warm ambient light of the dining room.
Philippe’s eyes were glued to the glowing display. He didn’t just recognize the name on the screen; he recognized the weight of it. Director Thomas Vance-Hollis was my younger brother—a man who currently oversaw international financial fraud investigations for Interpol in Europe.
"Tom sends his regards, by the way," I said mildly, picking up my water glass and taking a slow sip. "He mentioned over our Sunday video call that his department has been auditing cross-border shell companies operating out of Luxembourg and Brussels. Coincidentally, a company bearing a striking resemblance to Beaumont Holdings popped up on their radar last month."
Hélène clutched her chest, her fingers digging into the expensive silk of her blouse. "This is... this is blackmail! You cannot do this! You are ruining our family over a few careless words!"
"Careless words?" I snapped, my voice suddenly cracking with a cold fury that made everyone at the table flinch. "You sat in my home, ate the food my daughter spent six hours preparing, and mocked us both in a language you thought we were too ignorant to understand! You called my daughter simple. You called me unrefined. You treated us like peasants trespassing in your aristocratic domain!"
Luca stood up abruptly, knocking his napkin to the floor. He didn't look at his parents; instead, he looked straight at me, his eyes shining with a mixture of shame and fierce admiration.
"Mrs. Doyle—Margaret," Luca said, his voice thick with emotion. "You have every right to destroy them. They deserve it. They have treated me, and everyone else who doesn't fit their archaic definition of perfection, like garbage my entire life. I love Claire. I have loved her since the first day we met at university. But if my family’s name means participating in this kind of arrogance, I don't want a single cent of their dirty money."
Claire’s eyes welled with tears as she walked around the table and slipped her hand into Luca’s. "Luca... you don't have to cut them off."
"No, he does," I said, softening slightly as I looked at the young man. "Because arrogance like theirs doesn't just fade. It rots from the inside out."
Philippe, realizing his entire life's work was slipping through his fingers, dropped his aggressive facade in an instant. The proud, untouchable Belgian banker did something unthinkable: he began to shake, his knees buckling as he half-collapsed back into his chair.
"Please," Philippe whispered, tears of absolute humiliation pooling in the corners of his eyes. "Please, Margaret. Do not call your brother. If the audit hits the press before the merger closes, my father will disown me, and the bank will seize our estate. We will be ruined."
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I looked at him for a long, agonizing moment, letting him marinate in the absolute terror of his impending downfall.
"Continue to Part 5 to find out Margaret's shocking ultimatum—and the secret condition Luca reveals about his parents' past."
