The voice cut through the commotion with the absolute weight of iron authority. “Stop right there, Richard!”
From the shadows of the VIP box stepped Arthur Vance—Richard’s eighty-two-year-old father, the original founder of the Vance Global conglomerate. He moved slowly with a silver-topped cane, flanked by two corporate attorneys carrying black leather briefcases. The entire high-society audience froze; Arthur had lived as a recluse for five years, leaving the company’s daily operations entirely to Richard.
Richard’s face, already pale, turned an ash-gray color. “Father… please, this is a family misunderstanding. The boy is overwhelmed by graduation stress—”
“Silence, Richard!” Arthur barked, his sharp eyes locking onto Mateo and Elena. He navigated the plush carpet stairs down to the main floor, the heavy thud of his cane echoing in the quiet room. He walked straight past his son, stopping right in front of Elena.
Elena shrank back slightly, her hands trembling in Mateo’s grip, but Arthur didn’t scold her. Instead, the formidable patriarch slowly lowered his head in a profound, uncharacteristic gesture of shame.
“Twenty years ago, my son told me you died during childbirth, Elena,” Arthur said, his gravelly voice amplified by the room’s open acoustics. “I paid for a empty tomb in the family plot while Richard used my grief to consolidate his absolute power over the board. I only discovered the truth forty-eight hours ago when Mateo brought me the documents from the safe.”
Victoria let out a muffled gasp, her hands flying to her mouth as the journalists’ flashbulbs went off in a blinding, relentless assault.
To see the corporate execution that destroys Richard’s position, continue reading below for Part 3.
