Chapter 17 - THE UNMASKED CONSPIRACY
Behind Vanessa, Victoria Vance-Sterling walked into the foyer, stepping delicately over the shattered glass and spent shell casings. She held a gold-tipped cane in one hand, while her other hand adjusted her emerald ring.
"Pick him up," Victoria ordered coolly.
Two large operatives hauled Daniel off the floor, twisting his arms behind his back and forcing him into an ornate wooden chair in the center of the hall. Daniel fought against the grip, his vision slowly clearing, blood trickling from a small cut on his temple where he had struck the floor.
"Victoria," Daniel spat, coughing through the lingering smoke. "You're insane. Do you have any idea what the FBI will do to you for this? You broke a convicted felon out of custody!"
Victoria chuckled softly, a dry, aristocratic sound. "The FBI? Oh, Daniel. You always were so wonderfully naive, just like your father. Do you really think I broke Vanessa out? The medical furlough was completely legal, signed by a federal judge who happens to owe his entire appointment to my family’s political action committee. Vanessa is officially in transit to an offshore clinic in Switzerland. Her private jet is already over international waters."
"Then why are you here?" Daniel demanded, glaring at Vanessa. "Why risk everything coming to this house?"
"Because of Claire," Victoria said, her smile disappearing, replaced by an ancient, venomous bitterness. "Claire was never supposed to marry you. Claire’s father stole fifty percent of the Vance-Sterling land holdings during the 1998 banking merger. He promised Claire’s hand to my son to consolidate the debt. And instead, she ran off with a soft-hearted, pathetic Bennett."
Daniel’s mind reeled. The rivalry wasn't about money—it was a blood feud spanning two generations.
"Vanessa was supposed to secure the trust," Victoria continued, gesturing toward her daughter. "She was supposed to marry you, have Sophie declared legally incompetent, and sign over the controlling interest of the Bennett-Vance corporation to me. But Vanessa was sloppy. She let a teenage babysitter with an iPhone ruin a multi-million-dollar acquisition."
Vanessa’s jaw tightened, humiliation flashing in her eyes at her mother’s words. "The babysitter was an unforeseen variable, Mother!"
"The babysitter was a child, and you were an amateur!" Victoria snapped, turning on Vanessa with terrifying fury. "You let yourself get baited by a three-year-old crying over a stuffed animal! You disgraced this family!"
Victoria turned back to Daniel, her eyes narrowing into slits. "Which brings us to the purpose of tonight’s visit. We are not leaving empty-handed. Claire left a trust fund in Sophie’s name—a trust that holds the original 1998 corporate deeds. Only Sophie’s biometric signature and your authorization can release those documents. You will open the safe room. You will bring the child out. And you will sign the transfer of custody and corporate rights."
"Go to hell," Daniel snarled, leaning forward and spitting blood onto the toe of Victoria’s leather shoe. "I would rather die on this floor than let you touch my daughter."
Victoria didn't flinch. She simply looked down at the blood on her shoe, pulled a silk handkerchief from her pocket, and wiped it clean.
May you like
"I expected as much," Victoria sighed. She turned to the leader of her tactical team. "Bring the thermal lance. Melt through the safe room hinges. If the father won't cooperate... we only need the girl's thumbprint. Living or dead."
---
