Chapter 3 - Mother's Betrayal Exposed"General Thorne," the prosecutor stammered, scrambling to salvage his case, "even if Captain Vance did serve, that doesn't change the authenticity of Vance Meridian Systems' corporate will. The documents presented by Mr. Julian Vance clearly grant him sole ownership of the multi-billion-dollar estate."
Evelyn, recovering some of her composure, rushed to back up the claim. "Yes! Exactly! My late husband changed his mind before he died! Clara was always ungrateful, always running off to play soldier while Julian stayed home to take care of the family business!"
General Thorne let out a short, cold laugh that lacked any humor whatsoever. He pulled a second, thinner file from his jacket.
"Mrs. Vance," Thorne said, stepping closer to the witness stand, "let's talk about your husband's final days. Specifically, let's talk about the offshore bank accounts in the Cayman Islands under the corporate shell name 'Vance Holdings International'."
Evelyn’s eyes bulged. All the blood rushed from her face, leaving her looking like a corpse. "I... I don't know what you're talking about."
"Of course you don't," Thorne mocked softly. "Just like you didn't know that your beloved son Julian used those exact shell companies to embezzle forty-eight million dollars from defense contracts meant for American troops overseas. In fact, our military intelligence division has been tracking those accounts for six months."
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Thorne turned to the judge. "Your Honor, the late CEO Arthur Vance didn't rewrite his will to disinherit his daughter. He discovered his son and wife were selling classified defense tech blueprints to foreign state actors. He left the company to Captain Clara Vance specifically because she was the only person he trusted to burn the corrupt empire to the ground."
Julian shrieked, lunging forward. "Liar! You're framing us! Show proof! Show us the warrants!"
