Chapter 5 - THE UNRAVELINGDominic snatched the parchment from his lap, his trembling fingers tearing at the heavy paper as his frantic eyes scanned the legal text. Line by line, the color drained entirely from his face until he looked like a corpse draped in designer wool.
“This… this is a trap,” he choked out, looking up at me with eyes full of sheer, unadulterated terror. “You planned this. From the very beginning. You let me propose. You let me buy the ring. You let me bring you up here.”
“I didn’t just let you, Dominic,” I replied, walking over to the bar cart and pouring myself a fresh glass of sparkling water. “I orchestrated every single step of it. You were so blinded by your own arrogance and your desire to crush my business that you never bothered to run a background check on my investors.”
I took a slow sip, letting the crisp water wash down my throat before continuing.
“You thought my boutique was struggling? It was a front, funded by venture capitalists who wanted to dismantle the Vance monopoly from the inside out. You thought you were trapping a penniless orphan? I bought out your primary creditor six months ago. Every single loan your father took out to finance his political campaigns? They’re all under my name.”
Dominic let out a ragged, desperate sound, scrambling across the rug toward me like a cornered animal. “Audrey, please! We can fix this! We’re married! Whatever your father’s company lost, I can—we can—”
“Hands behind your back, Mr. Vance,” a federal marshal interrupted coldly, stepping forward and clamping cold steel handcuffs around Dominic’s wrists with a sharp click.
“Get off me!” Dominic screamed, thrashing wildly as two agents hoisted him to his feet. “Uncle Marcus, do something! Call my father! Tell them this is insane!”
Marcus adjusted his cuffs, his expression completely devoid of pity. “Your father is already in federal custody, Dominic. The IRS seized his estate twenty minutes ago. As for you, your new residence isn’t going to be this penthouse. It’s a maximum-security holding cell.”
As they dragged him toward the shattered doorway, Dominic twisted his head around, his eyes locking onto mine with a look of pure, venomous hatred.
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“You think you’ve won?” he snarled, spittle flying from his lips. “The Vance name doesn’t go down that easily! Someone will finish what my father started! You’ll never be safe!”
I didn’t flinch. I just raised my glass to him in a silent toast as the federal agents hauled him out into the hallway, his desperate shouts fading away into the distance.
