Chapter 14 - THE PENTHOUSE RAID
Federal agents executed a comprehensive search warrant on the Vance family's flagship Manhattan penthouse on Fifth Avenue.
Valuable art pieces, antique furniture, and designer wardrobes were systematically cataloged and tagged for federal auction.
Government appraisers moved through the grand rooms, boxing up gold-plated heirlooms and luxury assets purchased with laundered funds.
News crews gathered on the sidewalk below, broadcasting live feeds of federal trucks hauling away the family's ill-gotten treasures.
Victoria Vance watched the live broadcast from her communal prison dayroom television, her eyes burning with bitter hatred.
Her magnificent domain had been reduced to a sterile government storage facility, wiped clean of her legacy.
An inmate walked past her table, snickering quietly at the screen before turning away down the hallway.
Victoria clenched her fists so hard her fingernails broke the skin, drawing tiny beads of crimson on her palms.
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She had lost her empire, her social standing, and her freedom, all because she underestimated a quiet blonde mother.
The golden cage she had built around her family had ultimately become their inescapable tomb.
