Chapter 8 - The Battle at the Guild
At four o'clock that afternoon, the monthly executive board meeting of the Savannah Historical Preservation Society was underway in the grand conference room of the Telfair Museum.
Victoria Sterling sat at the head of the long mahogany table, looking radiant and utterly in control as she presented the final budget allocations for the four-million-dollar state grant.
Beckett sat near the middle of the table, looking distant and brooding, his thoughts clearly elsewhere. Ever since the night of the gala, he had been trying to contact Delaney, but she had avoided his calls, terrified that accepting his help would prove Victoria right.
"And so," Victoria concluded smoothly, clicking her remote to display the final slide on the projection screen, "we will begin phase one of the Telfair restoration next month, under the direct supervision of Ward Preservation Architect Specialist—"
BOOM.
The heavy double doors of the boardroom swung open with a sharp, dramatic force.
Every head at the mahogany table snapped around.
Delaney Prince stepped into the room.
She did not wear the sapphire vintage gown, nor did she wear her waitress apron. She wore clean blue jeans, a tailored black blazer over a plain white blouse, her hair tied back in a neat ponytail. She looked sharp, focused, and completely fearless.
Beside her walked Arthur Vance—the retired judge who had praised her at the gala—and a young, sharp-looking attorney carrying a leather briefcase.
Victoria’s eyes narrowed into slits of pure fury. "Miss Prince! This is a private executive board meeting! Security, please escort this woman—"
"Sit down, Victoria," Judge Harold Vance commanded, his powerful, authoritative voice echoing off the high plaster ceiling.
The board members gasped. Judge Vance was one of the most respected legal figures in the state of Georgia, and he was currently acting as the senior legal advisor to the Historical Society trust.
Beckett stood up instantly from his chair, his eyes wide with surprise. "Delaney? What's going on?"
Delaney walked straight down the center of the boardroom table, stopping directly opposite Victoria Sterling. She reached into her blazer pocket and pulled out the legal summons from Apex Financial, tossing it onto the mahogany table. It slid across the polished wood, stopping right in front of Victoria’s glass of ice water.
"Exhibit A," Delaney stated, her voice clear, confident, and ringing with absolute authority. "A predatory legal summons issued three hours ago by Apex Financial Collections, demanding immediate forty-two thousand dollar settlement of an eight-month-old medical debt belonging to my deceased mother."
Victoria didn't flinch. "I'm sure your personal financial disasters are very moving, Miss Prince, but they have zero relevance to this board—"
"They have total relevance to this board, Miss Sterling," Delaney’s attorney interrupted, stepping forward and opening his briefcase. "Because according to public financial disclosures filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Apex Financial is ninety-two percent owned by Sterling Capital Holdings—a private firm where Victoria Sterling serves as Chief Financial Officer."
A collective gasp went up around the mahogany table. Board members began whispering furiously to one another.
Beckett’s face turned into a mask of pure, terrifying rage. He stepped toward Victoria, his tall frame looming over her chair. "You bought her mother's hospital debt, Victoria? You used a shell company to intimidate a family?"
"It was a business acquisition!" Victoria snapped, her polite composure finally fracturing under the pressure. "Her family defaulted on their obligations! Apex operates within the full letter of the law!"
"It operates within the letter of the law, Miss Sterling," Judge Vance declared coldly, "but it completely violates Section 4 of the Historical Society's Ethics Charter, which strictly forbids board members from using personal or institutional leverage to harass, intimidate, or financially target associates, vendors, or guests of the Society."
Judge Vance looked around the table at the stunned board members.
"Five minutes ago," Judge Vance continued, "Miss Prince came to my law office. She didn't ask for a handout. She didn't ask Beckett Ward to pay her debt. She asked for legal representation to structure a proper, court-sanctioned repayment plan that protects her wages from illegal harassment."
Delaney looked Victoria dead in the eye, her dark eyes blazing with an unyielding, triumphant fire.
"I am paying my mother's debt myself, Miss Sterling," Delaney said softly, every word echoing in the quiet room. "Every single penny. Through honest work. Something I suspect you know very little about."
Victoria’s jaw worked silently, her face flushing a deep, embarrassing crimson as every wealthy peer at the table looked at her with utter disgust and contempt.
"Motion to remove Victoria Sterling as Chairwoman of the Telfair Grant Committee," Judge Vance announced loudly.
"Seconded!" three board members shouted instantly.
May you like
"The motion carries," Judge Vance declared. "Miss Sterling, you are relieved of your duties on this board pending an ethics review."
Victoria grabbed her leather briefcase, stood up so fast her chair screeched loudly against the floor, and marched out of the room, her head bowed in absolute defeat, her reign over Savannah society crushed in a single afternoon.
