Chapter 14 - Checkmate in Zurich
Forty-eight hours later, Elena Vance sat across from them in a glass-walled conference room in Zurich, Switzerland, waiting to claim her victory. Her legal team hovered nervously behind her, clutching thick leather briefcases.
Elena slammed a certified copy of the land lien onto the polished walnut table. “Time’s up, Raphael. Hand over the shipping keys, or the marshals seize the estate by midnight.”
Raphael didn't flinch. He leaned back in his leather chair, steeple-fingered his hands, and slid a single sheet of paper across the table toward her.
Elena glanced down at it, her confident smirk freezing instantly.
“What is this?” she whispered, her voice tightening.
“That,” Josephine said smoothly, taking a seat beside Raphael, “is an injunction filed three hours ago by the Swiss Federal Banking Commission, backed by the municipal tax office of Massachusetts. Your father’s 1994 lien was legally dissolved when the estate was transferred into a public trust. Furthermore, because your family trust used embezzled funds to acquire that invalid lien, your remaining liquid assets in Zurich have been frozen under international anti-money laundering statutes.”
May you like
Elena’s face drained of every drop of color. She looked up at Josephine with pure, unadulterated hatred. “You... you dug up an obscure tax amendment just to trap me.”
“You threatened the wrong home, Ms. Vance,” Raphael said quietly, standing up to tower over her. “You have twenty-four hours to leave the country. If you ever set foot on Orsini-Hartley property again, you won't need a lawyer—you’ll need a mortician.”
