CHAPTER 4: The Bitter Truth
“Money can buy a crown, but it can never buy an alibi.”
Victor’s eyes darted around the room like a trapped animal. The board members were looking at him with disgust. Arthur was already reading the original covenant, his face hardening with every line.
“This is a setup!” Victor screamed, backing away toward the massive floor-to-ceiling glass window overlooking the snow-covered city. “Jack, you’re unstable! You’ve been hallucinating since Clare died!”
“Am I?” Jack stepped forward, pulling Olivia to his side. “Look at her, Victor. Look at this child. This is Olivia. Eleanor Rivera’s granddaughter. The little girl you threatened in her own home. The child you left to freeze on the streets so she wouldn't discover who she really was.”
Olivia looked up at Victor. Despite the fear that had paralyzed her for months, seeing the man who had terrified her grandmother now trembling and cornered gave her a sudden, fierce surge of courage.
She stepped away from Jack and walked straight toward the massive table. She pointed her small, red, frostbitten finger directly at Victor.
“You came to our house,” Olivia said, her voice clear, sharp, and echoing through the silent boardroom. “You told my grandma she was nothing. You took her paper and threw her on the floor. You told her that rich people always win. But my grandma told me that God sees everything in the dark, and eventually, He turns on the lights.”
The words hit Victor like a physical blow. He stumbled back against the glass window.
Suddenly, the boardroom doors were pushed open again, and four armed Chicago police officers, accompanied by federal investigators from the SEC, entered the room.
“Victor Vance?” the lead detective asked, drawing his handcuffs. “You’re under arrest for corporate fraud, embezzlement, grand larceny, and three counts of reckless endangerment.”
Victor looked at the police, then at Jack, and finally at the $50 million merger contract sitting unsigned on the table. A twisted, manic grin spread across his face.
“You think you won, Jack?” Victor laughed, a sound completely devoid of sanity. “You think saving this little street rat fixes what you did? You forgot her for seven years! You sat in your golden tower while Ellie scrubbed toilets and died in poverty! You killed her just as much as I did!”
The words stabbed Jack straight in the heart. Because deep down, he knew Victor was right. His negligence, his blind trust, and his self-absorption had allowed this tragedy to happen.
“Take him away,” Jack whispered, turning his back on his former friend.
As the police tackled Victor to the ground and dragged him out of the room screaming, the board members stood in stunned silence. Arthur looked up from the documents, a solemn expression on his face.
“Jack,” Arthur said quietly. “The Vanguard merger... it’s 1:59 PM. If you don't sign it right now, the company will lose millions. What do you want to do?”
Jack looked at the contract. Then he looked at Olivia, who was shivering in her oversized knit hat, and Lily, who was looking at him with eyes full of pride and hope.
Jack walked to the table, picked up the expensive fountain pen, and crossed out his own name on the signature line.
In its place, he wrote: Olivia Rivera, Trustee of the Eleanor Rivera Estate.
“I’m not signing this merger as the sole owner,” Jack announced to the board. “The Rivera estate owns 5% of this company, which, with compound interest and accrued dividends, amounts to a controlling interest of over $22 million. From this day forward, Anderson Global is a partnership. And our first corporate action will be to liquidate Victor Vance’s seized assets to fund a city-wide foundation for homeless families.”
The board members looked at each other, and slowly, Arthur began to clap. Soon, the entire room was filled with applause.
May you like
But the drama wasn’t over. As Jack smiled down at Olivia, an executive assistant rushed into the room, her face white as a sheet.
“Mr. Anderson!” she gasped, holding a tablet. “We just received the forensic autopsy report and medical files of Eleanor Rivera from the state archive... You need to see this immediately.”
