Chapter 13 - The Unmasking
Victoria stood up so violently her leather chair slammed back against the glass panoramic wall. Her face drained of all color, her lips trembling as she stared at the three figures.
"Security!" Victoria shrieked. "Security, arrest them! He is a fugitive!"
"The security on this floor has already been relieved by the Federal Marshals waiting in the lobby, Victoria," Lucas said calmly, stepping forward to lean against the edge of the conference table. "And your attorney general contact? He was taken into custody forty minutes ago at Newark Airport."
The board members gasped, several leaping out of their chairs in utter panic.
Clara walked straight down the center of the long room, her heels clicking rhythmically on the floor. She placed the antique leather ledger directly in front of the corporate secretary.
"This is the Vance founding proxy," Clara announced, her voice commanding, steady, and clear. "According to the corporate charter drafted by Julian’s grandfather, voting power can only be transferred to blood heirs in the direct line of descent upon the vacancy of the chairman."
"You are a bastard maid!" Victoria spat, losing all composure, her nails digging into the mahogany. "You have no legal standing! You have no name!"
Clara looked directly into the eyes of the woman who had tormented her mother for two decades.
"My name is Clara Vance," she said quietly, every syllable hitting like a hammer. "And here is the certified DNA match, run this morning through the federal crime lab with my brother Lucas's military record as secondary confirmation."
Clara tossed a signed court document onto the table.
"Victoria Vance," Julian said, stepping up beside Clara. "You are dismissed from this board, stripped of your allowances, and remanded to federal custody for twenty years of embezzlement, extortion, and conspiracy to commit murder."
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Victoria looked frantically around the table. The board members who had smiled at her five minutes earlier were now looking away, sliding their documents into their folders.
The double doors opened again, and four federal marshals stepped inside, handcuffs gleaming in the fluorescent lights.
