Chapter 2
Inside the opulent master suite of the mansion, Clara poured a glass of vintage Dom Pérignon into a crystal flute. She smiled at her reflection in the gilded wall mirror, admiring the flawless fit of her ruby red silk wrap dress.
"Mrs. Higgins, ensure all of Arthur's personal effects left outside are thrown into the municipal incinerator by dawn," Clara instructed smoothly. "Consider it done, Madam; Mr. Arthur has officially ceased to exist within these walls," the maid replied coldly.
Clara walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking down at the dark, empty driveway with supreme satisfaction. The wheelchair tracks had already been washed away by the relentless downpour sweeping across the wealthy Virginia suburb.
She opened her encrypted laptop on the mahogany desk to review the morning stock market projections for Vance Industries. As the sole controlling shareholder following the hastily signed prenuptial amendments, her power was absolute.
"No more dead weight, no more medical expenses, and total financial dominance," Clara murmured to herself with a wicked grin. Her phone buzzed brightly on the marble tabletop, displaying an incoming notification from her corporate legal counsel in Manhattan.
Clara tapped the screen, answering with an expectant, triumphant lilt in her voice. "Tell me the asset transfer protocols have cleared the federal banking clearinghouse downtown," Clara demanded immediately.
"There's an unexpected compliance hold on the primary trust accounts, Ms. Vance," her chief attorney replied with a tense stutter. Clara's smile vanished instantly, her sharp eyes narrowing as the first spike of unease pierced her absolute confidence.
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"What do you mean by a compliance hold? I authorized every single transaction myself before midnight," Clara snapped sharply. "The federal oversight division flagged an automated override originating from an encrypted secondary terminal registered to Arthur," the lawyer confessed.
Clara slammed her crystal glass down onto the desk, spilling expensive champagne across the confidential legal briefs. "Find that broken cripple and drag him back here right now!" Clara screamed into the receiver with sudden, uncontained fury.
