Chapter 5 - The Corporate Retribution
Within two hours, the story had sent shockwaves across the legal and financial sectors.
By mid-afternoon, news outlets were running glowing headlines: “Undercover Agent Exposes Decades-Long Family Fraud in Shocking Courtroom Reveal.” Photos of Eleanor and Julian being escorted out of the courthouse in handcuffs were plastered across every major social media platform.
I stood in the high-ceilinged executive suite on the forty-fifth floor of the Sterling Financial Tower in downtown Manhattan. The floor-to-ceiling glass windows offered a panoramic view of the skyline.
Agent Sterling—who was actually my maternal uncle, Marcus Sterling—handed me a crystal glass of sparkling water.
“You played that beautifully, Victoria,” Marcus said, looking at me with immense pride. “Your mother—or rather, Eleanor—thought she was walking into a routine shakedown. She had no idea she was walking straight into an international asset seizure.”
“She spent twenty-five years treating me like a charity case,” I said, staring at my reflection in the glass window. “She made me wear hand-me-downs, made me sleep in the basement bedroom, and made me feel like I was taking food out of Julian’s mouth. All while she was getting half a million dollars a year to raise me.”
“And Julian?” Marcus asked. “How is he handling the news?”
“Julian is currently in a federal holding cell realizing that his business, his luxury cars, and his bank accounts don't belong to him,” I said coldly. “Every single asset bought with funds from the Sterling Trust is being seized by federal marshals as of three o'clock today.”
Just then, my personal phone buzzed on the mahogany desk. It was an incoming call from the Central District Detention Facility.
I pressed the speaker button.
“Victoria?” Julian’s voice came through the speaker, panicked, cracking, and desperate. “Victoria, please! You have to help me! The lawyers said I’m facing up to fifteen years for wire fraud and conspiracy! I didn’t know, Victoria! I swear I didn’t know Mom was faking the adoption or stealing from you! I thought it was dad’s money!”
“You didn’t care where the money came from, Julian,” I answered smoothly. “When I asked you for five hundred dollars to pay for dad’s medical prescriptions three years ago, you laughed in my face and bought a designer watch. You enjoyed having a sister you could step on.”
“I’m sorry! I’ll give back the watch! I’ll give back everything!” Julian wept open-mouthed into the phone. “Please, talk to the prosecutors! Don’t let them send me to prison!”
May you like
“Actions have consequences, Julian,” I said. “You wanted to see me ruined today. You wanted to watch me leave that courtroom with nothing. Instead, you’re the one who leaves with nothing. Enjoy your new life.”
I pressed the red button and ended the call.
