Chapter 3: The Fracturing of Blood
David sat on the fainting couch in the parlor, staring at the floor. The world he knew—a world built on his mother’s prestige and influence—was dissolving. The bank agents were efficient, cold, and utterly indifferent to the Sterling name.
"You knew," David said to Maya, not looking up. "You knew she was doing this, and you stayed silent?"
"I wasn't silent, David. I was gathering," Maya replied, sitting opposite him. "I tried to tell you months ago, but you told me she was 'too powerful' to be questioned. You chose to be blind because it was comfortable."
The door to the foyer slammed open again. It was the press. They had been tipped off by Maya’s anonymous leak, and the street outside was already swarming with news vans.
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Evelyn tried to regain her composure, smoothing her silk blouse, her face a mask of iron. "I can fix this," she whispered to herself. "I know the Attorney General. I know the judges."
"The judges you bought are being investigated, too, Evelyn," Maya said, walking over to the mother-in-law. "Your leverage is gone. The era of the Sterling dynasty ended exactly five minutes ago."
