Chapter 5 - The Mask SlipsVanessa’s sophisticated composure shattered completely. The mask of the elegant, untouchable socialite melted away, revealing a desperate, cornered predator.
"You manipulative bastard!" Vanessa screamed, lunging across the table toward me, her fingernails clawing outward. "You set us up! You watched us! You let me humiliate you just so you could pull this trapdoor from beneath our feet!"
Before she could reach me, Clara stepped smoothly into her path, grabbing Vanessa's wrist with a grip of steel.
"Step aside, you little peasant trash!" Vanessa hissed, trying to slap Clara across the face.
Clara didn't flinch. With a cool, effortless motion, she twisted Vanessa's arm slightly, forcing her back into her seat. "The only trash in this room, Miss Vanessa, is the kind taking out itself."
Vanessa choked on her breath, looking around the room for allies. But every board member—the very people who had once kissed the ground she walked on—now averted their eyes, terrified of being associated with her downfall.
"Take them away," I said quietly.
The heavy doors opened wider, and two federal marshals entered, placing cold steel handcuffs around Martin’s wrists first, then stepping toward Vanessa.
"Arthur! Please!" Vanessa cried out, hot tears streaming down her carefully contoured face, ruining her makeup. "We were going to get married! We loved each other! Remember the times we—"
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"The only thing you ever loved, Vanessa," I interrupted, my voice cutting through her desperate pleas like a knife, "was the title, the bank account, and the illusion of power. Enjoy your new reality."
As they dragged her out of the boardroom, the heavy doors slammed shut, sealing their fate.
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