Chapter 12 - THE RUINED DYNASTY
In a private parlor room at the Plaza Hotel, Victoria's mother—the elderly socialite Countess Evelyn von Sterling—sat on a silk sofa, weeping into a lace handkerchief. Her luxury lifestyle had been completely dismantled within forty-eight hours as federal authorities froze every bank account associated with the Sterling name.
Her high-priced defense attorneys sat across from her, closing their leather briefcases with grim expressions on their faces.
"Countess, there is nothing more we can do," the lead attorney stated bluntly. "The evidence against Victoria is insurmountable. The government has video, chemical, and eye-witness testimony."
"There must be a price!" Evelyn shrieked, her voice shaking with desperate arrogance. "Offer Arthur half of my European estates! Tell him my daughter made a foolish mistake!"
The attorney looked at her with cold pity, standing up to adjust his coat. "Mr. Montgomery isn't interested in your estates, madam. He has already filed for a total annulment of the marriage and a complete forfeiture of all marital assets."
Meanwhile, back at the federal detention center, Victoria sat in her cell watching a television broadcast of Arthur’s press conference outside the courthouse.
On the screen, Arthur stood tall beneath the American flag, announcing that seventy percent of Victoria's seized assets would be donated to a national foundation supporting veterans and fallen officers' families.
May you like
Victoria threw her plastic food tray against the cell door, screaming in uncontained madness as she realized her name had been permanently erased from Manhattan high society.
The cell guard walked by, looking through the reinforced glass window with complete indifference. "Keep it down in there, Sterling. You've got a long twenty years ahead of you."
