Chapter 5 - Cornered Beasts
At 4:00 AM, as the night reached its darkest hour, Victoria entered my penthouse study carrying a hot mug of coffee.
"Sir, Evelyn Vance just reached out to three tabloid networks," Victoria reported. "She's offering an exclusive interview claiming that you emotionally abused her during your relationship, and that your mother intentionally provoked the incident at the wedding to extort money from her family."
I didn't even blink. "Has she released the statement yet?"
"She's scheduled to go live on a morning talk show segment at 6:00 AM via video stream from her hotel room," Victoria replied. "Should we file an emergency injunction to block the broadcast?"
"No," I said with a cold, calculated smile. "Let her dig her own grave deeper. Marcus, do we have the audit results from Vance International’s offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands?"
Marcus stepped forward with a thick manila folder. "We do, Arthur. And it's much worse than we anticipated. For the past three years, Charles Vance has been embezzling money from his corporate charity foundation to pay for Evelyn’s lavish lifestyle—her designer clothes, her trips to Paris, and yes, even the deposit for that wedding dress."
"So they were using tax-exempt charitable funds meant for underprivileged children to finance their arrogance," I said, my gaze hardening like flint.
"Precisely," Marcus confirmed. "Furthermore, Charles attempted to wire two million dollars of company funds to a shell account in Panama at 3:15 AM this morning—a clear act of corporate fraud and asset stripping in the face of insolvency."
"Hand the entire file over to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Bureau of Investigation," I instructed. "Make sure the warrants are issued before 6:00 AM."
"Consider it done," Marcus smiled.
I walked over to the floor-to-ceiling glass window of my penthouse, looking out over the sleeping city. The rain had finally stopped, and the dark sky was slowly beginning to show the faint, purple hues of approaching dawn.
"Arthur?" a soft voice called from the doorway.
I turned to see my mother standing there, dressed warmly, looking at me with her usual gentle eyes.
"Mom, you should be sleeping," I said gently, walking over to guide her to a chair.
"I couldn't sleep, my son," she said quietly, looking at the glowing monitors. "Is it almost over?"
"Almost, Mom," I promised, taking her hands into mine. "By the time the sun rises, nobody will ever dare to disrespect you again."
May you like
She shook her head softly, smiling with deep wisdom. "I never cared what those people thought of me, Arthur. But I am proud that my son knows the value of dignity. Just remember... do not let hatred stay in your heart after the justice is done."
"I won't, Mom," I promised. "Justice is for them. Peace is for us."
