Chapter 5 - THE SECRETS OF THE VAULTThe titanium drive sat on the dark conference table like a ticking time bomb. No one dared to touch it.
Chad stared down at the small piece of metal as if it were a venomous snake, his chest heaving rapidly. Sweat began to bead along his hairline, despite the chilled air conditioning of the executive suite.
"This... this is a fake," Chad stammered, looking frantically around the room at the sea of stone-faced board members. "She’s manufacturing evidence! It's a forged piece of junk designed to sabotage our corporate restructuring!"
"Is it, Mr. Vance?" Harrison Reed stepped forward, unzipping his briefcase and pulling out a certified court warrant. He placed it beside the drive. "That drive was authenticated forty-eight hours ago by federal forensic cryptographers. It contains the mirrored master database of Vance Group’s shadow accounts, unauthorized insider trading logs, and systematic asset stripping executed under your mother's direct authorization over the past seven years."
Evelyn’s composure finally fractured completely. Her face turned an ash-gray, and she gripped the back of her chair for support, her knuckles turning white.
"You lying, treacherous bitch," Evelyn hissed, her voice vibrating with venom as she glared at me. "You seduced my son, you lived off his wealth, and now you’re trying to tear down everything my husband spent a lifetime building just to satisfy your petty revenge!"
"Your husband built this company with ethics and vision, Evelyn," I replied, my voice slicing through her fury like a scalpel. "You and Chad turned it into a criminal syndicate. You bled the subsidiaries dry, embezzled pension funds, and when Marcus discovered what you were doing..."
I paused, letting the heavy silence hang in the air like a guillotine blade.
"...when Marcus threatened to turn you all over to federal authorities, you didn't just try to silence him. You orchestrated his 'accidental' car crash on the mountain pass."
Gasps erupted around the boardroom. Several board members stood up from their chairs in shock, shouting over one another.
"Absurd!" Chad yelled, slamming his fist on the table. "You have zero proof of that! The police report ruled it brake failure due to mechanical wear!"
"Mechanical wear on a brand-new vehicle that was serviced exclusively by your private family mechanic twenty-four hours before the trip?" I countered, my eyes narrowing into dangerous slits. "Mr. Reed, please play Audio File Alpha-Nine from the drive."
Reed calmly pulled out a remote device, tapped the screen, and pressed play.
A crisp, clear audio recording began to play through the boardroom's high-definition surround-sound speakers.
"Look, I don't care how you do it, just cut the primary brake line before he takes the mountain route tomorrow morning," a voice snarled.
The entire room froze instantly. Every single person recognized the distinct, arrogant drawl immediately.
It was Chad Vance’s voice.
Chad’s face turned the color of chalk. His knees buckled slightly, and he stumbled backward into the credenza, knocking a crystal vase to the floor where it shattered into a thousand pieces.
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"And make sure it looks like an accident," a second, older, colder voice answered on the recording.
Evelyn’s voice.
