Chapter 2: The Empire Unravels
By breakfast, the panic had begun. I sat in the Waldorf dining room, sipping chamomile tea, while Marcus briefed me on the Sterling household.
"They woke up to a frozen account notification, Serena," Marcus said, his tablet scrolling through real-time financial data. "Victoria tried to use the black card for her morning florist delivery. It was declined. Then the estate’s property tax lien notification hit Mark’s email. They’re in a tailspin."
The chaos in their home was delicious to imagine. Victoria, who prided herself on being the gatekeeper of high society, was currently screaming at the bank, unaware that Vanguard Capital had just acquired the bank’s parent organization three months ago.
Mark, however, was trying to locate me. He had called my old burner phone, left voicemails that went from demanding to confused, and finally to desperate. He still thought I was just "Serena," the girl he had plucked from a struggling background, not the woman who had built an international investment firm while he was busy failing to manage his father’s legacy.
"They are attempting to leverage the factory assets to cover the margin call," Marcus noted.
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"Let them try," I said, my voice cold. "The factory workers are the only ones I care about. Keep the payroll funded, Marcus. I want the employees to get their bonuses this month, especially the ones Victoria tried to fire. It will be the final nail in her reputation when the staff realizes I was their benefactor, not the Sterlings."
The shift in power wasn't just financial; it was existential. They had built their identity on looking down on others. Now, the person they looked down on was pulling the rug from under them.
