Chapter 16 - The Inmate’s Last Gambit
State Correctional Institution – Maximum Security Division.
The visitor’s room was cold, stark, and smelled of industrial disinfectant.
Behind a thick pane of plexiglass sat Victoria Vance.
Her once immaculate silver hair was now dull, cut short, and unstyled. She wore an orange jumpsuit, her hands handcuffed to her waist belt. The arrogant, untouchable socialite who had ruled Chicago’s high society for thirty years looked old, bitter, and hollow.
On the other side of the glass sat Audrey, wearing a tailored navy blazer, looking radiant, strong, and completely unbothered by her surroundings.
Victoria picked up the black telephone receiver with shaking, manicured-less hands. Audrey picked up hers.
"You think you’ve won, don't you, Audrey?" Victoria’s voice cracked through the small speaker, filled with toxic venom. "You file lawsuits, you build your little charity center, you parade your doctor around... but you are still just the girl I found in that modest apartment five years ago."
"I didn't come here to argue with you, Victoria," Audrey said calmly. "I came to deliver a courtesy notice."
"Courtesy?" Victoria let out a harsh, rasping laugh. "You took my estate! You put my son on a road repair crew! You drove Paige into poverty! You destroyed the Vance name!"
"You destroyed the Vance name yourself," Audrey corrected her smoothly. "Through greed, cruelty, and fraud. I merely held up the mirror."
Audrey slid a legal document against the glass divider.
"This is an emergency order from the Federal Bankruptcy Court," Audrey explained. "Apex Financial has entered receivership. The fifteen million dollars hidden in the Panama trust—the money you tried to keep for yourself—has been fully seized by the federal court. It will be distributed to your victims tomorrow morning."
Victoria’s face contorted into pure, hysterical rage. She slammed her hand against the glass. "That is my money! I built that fortune! You have no right!"
"I have every right," Audrey said, her gray eyes burning with quiet, absolute authority. "And as for your legal injunction trying to halt the Marcus & Child Center's operations... the judge threw it out ten minutes ago with prejudice. You will never hold power over another human being again, Victoria."
Victoria gasped, clutching her chest as if the air had been sucked out of her lungs. "Dominic... Dominic will come back for me! He is my son!"
"Dominic was at my gala three nights ago," Audrey informed her softly. "He was begging for money. He didn't ask about you once. You raised him to be selfish, Victoria, and now you are experiencing the full reward of your parenting."
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Victoria fell silent, staring at Audrey through the glass, her eyes wide with the realization that her empire, her legacy, her family, and her control were completely, permanently gone.
Audrey set the telephone receiver back onto its hook. She stood up, adjusted her coat, and turned her back on Victoria Vance for the final time.
