Chapter 8 - The Shadow Returns
While the construction of the sanctuary progressed smoothly, dark clouds were gathering in the legal corridors of the city.
Arthur Sterling, broke, disgraced, and facing forty years in federal prison for corporate fraud and illegal tenant lockouts, was desperate for revenge.
Sitting in a cramped, dimly lit conference room at the Cook County Detention Center, Sterling met with his ruthless defense attorney, Victor Vance.
"I don't care about the corporate charges, Victor!" Sterling hissed, slamming his cuffed hands against the metal table. "I want Graham Vale destroyed! I want him ruined!"
Victor Vance, a thin, sharp-faced man with cold grey eyes, adjusted his tie. "Vale is untouchable financially, Arthur. He absorbed Vanguard’s assets, and his public approval rating in the city is higher than the mayor's. If you try to attack him through business, he’ll crush you again."
"Then find another way!" Sterling snarled. "There has to be a weakness! Every man has a weakness!"
Vance smiled a cold, razor-sharp smile, pulling a thin file from his briefcase. "Vale doesn't have a wife, he doesn't have children, and his personal life is completely sterile. But over the last four months, he has spent six nights a week at a private brownstone in Lincoln Park."
Sterling leaned forward. "Whose brownstone?"
"June Carter’s," Vance revealed softly. "He bought her a four-million-dollar renovated home. He pays for the kid's private school, he hired a personal driver for the grandmother, and he’s named the child as a beneficiary in his personal trust."
Arthur Sterling’s eyes lit up with a sick, twisted joy. "A secret vulnerability. He cares about them."
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"If we file a formal legal challenge against the Carter Sanctuary land acquisition," Vance explained, tapping the file, "claiming that Vale used inside non-public information from Mrs. Carter’s medical intake records to manipulate Vanguard’s stock, we can freeze the project, trigger a federal investigation, and drag her name through every tabloid in the country."
"Do it," Sterling growled, a hideous grin spreading across his face. "If I'm going to prison, I'm taking his precious little charity with me."
