📜 CHAPTER 11: The Black Sheep’s Revenge
For six months, the empire Bianca and I built was flawless. Adrian was locked away in a maximum-security federal facility with no hope of parole, his "Andrew Vance" identity completely dismantled. Bianca and her son lived safely in the San Juan estate, while I managed the multi-billion-peso global operations from our BGC headquarters.
We thought the board was clear. We forgot about the second puppet.
It was a rainy Tuesday evening when the power suddenly cut out across the entire 47th floor of Villareal Prime Holdings. The backup generators didn't kick in. The biometric security locks on my office doors hissed, opening automatically due to the safety override.
A figure stepped out of the darkness of the hallway, holding a glowing smartphone screen.
It wasn't Adrian. It was Julian Villareal.
Adrian’s younger brother—the one who supposedly took the fall for the embezzlement in Singapore—was standing in front of me, looking completely disheveled, wild-eyed, and holding a sleek, silver flash drive.
"Lucia," Julian sneered, his voice trembling with a mixture of fear and adrenaline. "Did you really think I was stupid enough to just sit in a cell while Adrian paid me off? I knew my brother was a narcissist, but I also knew you and Bianca were up to something far darker."
I kept my hand underneath my desk, secretly pressing the silent panic button to alert campus security. Nothing happened.
"Don't bother," Julian laughed bitterly. "I didn't just walk in here. I bought your entire IT security team using the offshore money Adrian thought he hid from you. But I’m not here to kill you, Lucia. I’m here to trade."
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He tossed the flash drive onto my desk. "Before Doña Elena died, she didn't just leave a trust fund for you. She recorded a video. A video detailing how she and your mother systematically embezzled from the original investors of this company thirty years ago to build the foundation of the Villareal fortune. If I press 'upload,' the SEC, the financial markets, and your precious international suppliers will realize Villareal Prime is built on a massive, historic fraud. Your stocks won't just drop—they will be permanently blacklisted."
Julian leaned over my desk. "Give me 50% of the offshore trust, or I destroy the throne you and Bianca sacrificed everything to sit on."
