Chapter 3 - The Broken Thread
By three o'clock in the morning, the rain had begun. It slicked the marble plaza outside the entrance of Rivera Tower, reflecting the neon signs of the financial district like spilled ink.
Julian sat on the cold stone steps outside the locked glass doors, his expensive tuxedo soaked through, clinging to his shivering frame. His phone lay beside him, the screen cracked, constantly buzzing with notifications from news outlets, former friends, and frantic text messages from Richard Vanguard threatening to kill him if he ever stepped foot in the Vanguard estate again.
The glass door swung open with a heavy pneumatic hiss.
Julian scrambled to his feet, his wet shoes slipping on the marble. "Mother! Mother, please!"
It wasn't Victoria. It was Arthur, holding an umbrella, flanked by two imposing security guards.
"Mr. Julian," Arthur said, his tone as cold as the rain. "You are trespassing on private property. Ms. Rivera has requested that you vacate the premises immediately."
"She’s my mother!" Julian screamed, his voice cracking against the downpour. "You can't keep me away from her! I have a right to talk to her!"
"You surrendered your rights twenty-two years ago when you signed the Vanguard emancipation papers at eighteen," Arthur replied, pulling a laminated document from his inner pocket and holding it out under the edge of the umbrella. "Do you recognize this signature? You signed away all filial claims to Victoria Rivera in exchange for a five-hundred-thousand-dollar trust fund and a Harvard tuition package paid by Edward Vanguard."
Julian froze. His face went gray. "She... she knows about that?"
"Ms. Rivera knows everything," Arthur said softly. "She tracked every dollar you spent. She watched you buy your first sports car while she was sleeping on a cot in a warehouse, building her first logistics company. She watched you attend galas while she was surviving on coffee and four hours of sleep. She waited until you reached the very top of the hill, Julian. Just so the fall would take longer."
Julian shook his head frantically. "No... no, I was young! I was manipulated by my grandfather! They told me she didn't want me!"
"And yet, when you found that photograph in your grandfather’s estate three years ago, you didn't look for her to ask if it was true," Arthur said, taking a step back into the dry foyer. "You put it in your desk drawer and locked it so your rich fiancée wouldn't find out you had poor blood."
Arthur gestured to the guards.
"If you are still on these steps in two minutes, the police will arrest you for harassment and criminal trespass. Have a good evening, Julian."
regional police cruiser pulled up to the curb, its red and blue lights flashing against the wet pavement. Julian stumbled backward into the rain, looking up at the penthouse window on the fiftieth floor. High above, behind the dark glass, a single silhouette stood watching him.
Meanwhile, in a sprawling mansion on the outskirts of the city, Chloe Vanguard was tearing her bedroom apart.
Silk dresses were ripped from hangers and thrown across the floor. Crystal perfume bottles shattered against the mirrors. Her father stood in the doorway, a glass of dark liquor shaking in his hand.
"Stop it, Chloe!" Richard barked. "Ripping up your clothes isn't going to fix this!"
"We're ruined!" Chloe shrieked, clutching a diamond necklace to her chest. "Do you know what they're saying about me on Twitter? On TikTok? They're calling me a monster! They're making memes of my face!"
"Forget the damn internet!" Richard shouted, slamming his glass onto a nightstand. "The bank called ten minutes ago. The Rivera Group bought out our primary mortgage holder at midnight. If we don't produce forty million dollars in cash by four o'clock tomorrow afternoon, they are foreclosing on this house, the country club, and the shipping yards!"
Chloe stopped. Her breath caught in her throat. "Forty million? Father, can't we sell the stocks?"
"What stocks?" Richard laughed bitterly. "The stock is worthless! The moment that video aired, three of our biggest logistics partners canceled their contracts. They don't want to be associated with us!"
He walked over to his daughter, grasping her shoulders tightly. His eyes were wide and bloodshot.
"Listen to me, Chloe. You made this mess with your big mouth on that rooftop. You humiliated that woman in front of the whole city."
"I didn't know who she was!" Chloe sobbed.
"It doesn't matter!" Richard tightened his grip until Chloe winced. "You're going to fix it. Tomorrow morning, you are going to put on the plainest dress you own, you are going to go to Rivera Tower, and you are going to fall on your knees in front of Victoria Rivera. You are going to beg her for mercy."
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Chloe stared at her father in horror. "Beg her? The woman I called a nobody? I'd rather die!"
"Then you'd better start looking for a cheaper coffin," Richard snarled, shoving her away. "Because if you don't save this family by tomorrow, we won't even have enough money to pay for your funeral."
