Chapter 12 - The Serpent at the Gala
The Grand Del Mar ballroom was a sea of crystal chandeliers,
tailored tuxedos,
and glittering diamond necklaces.
San Diego's financial elite had gathered for the summit,
their conversations filled with quiet speculation about the fall of the Lawson family and the meteoric rise of Vance Holdings.
I entered the room wearing a sleek,
floor-length emerald green satin gown,
my hair swept up in an elegant chignon,
a single diamond necklace resting against my collarbone.
Every eye in the ballroom turned toward me as I stepped down the marble stairs.
I walked through the crowd with absolute poise,
accepting polite nods from bank presidents and venture capitalists.
At the far side of the room,
standing beside a wall of champagne flutes,
was Harrison Sterling.
At fifty-five,
Sterling was a towering man with silver-streaked hair,
a razor-sharp tailored tuxedo,
and eyes as cold and gray as the North Sea.
He held a glass of scotch,
surrounded by a small court of sycophantic junior partners.
As I approached,
he dismissed his companions with a slight wave of his hand and turned to face me.
"Victoria Vance,"
Sterling greeted,
his voice a deep,
refined British baritone.
"Or should I say,
the dragon of American corporate restructuring?"
"Mr. Sterling,"
I replied smoothly,
accepting a glass of sparkling water from a passing waiter.
"I received your notice from London this morning."
Sterling took a slow sip of his drink,
his gaze locking onto mine with ruthless curiosity.
"Then you know why I am in California.
Dominic Lawson owed my firm seventy million dollars.
You took his assets.
Therefore,
you took his debt."
"Dominic Lawson was a fraudster who forged corporate signatures,"
I stated calmly,
looking him straight in the eyes.
"You failed to perform due diligence on your collateral.
That is an error of your risk management team,
Mr. Sterling,
not a liability of Vance Holdings."
Harrison Sterling let out a quiet,
amused laugh that carried no genuine warmth.
"Do not lecture me on risk management,
my dear.
You are a brilliant accountant,
yes.
You destroyed your pathetic ex-husband and outmaneuvered his foolish uncle.
But you are playing in the global arena now.
I hold injunction filings ready in London,
Frankfurt,
and Tokyo.
By tomorrow morning,
Vextor’s European sales will be frozen."
"You think a temporary injunction will force me to pay you one hundred million dollars?"
I asked softly.
"I know it will,"
Sterling smirked,
leaning in closer.
"Because your board cannot survive a twenty percent drop in quarterly revenue.
Pay the settlement,
Victoria.
Cut me in on Vextor’s AI patents,
and I will walk away.
Refuse,
and I will dismantle your company piece by piece,
just as I have done to dozens of arrogant executives across Europe."
I looked at him without a single trace of fear,
taking a small sip of my water.
"You call yourself a vulture,
Mr. Sterling,"
I said,
my voice dropping into an uncompromising,
icy whisper.
"But a vulture only feeds on things that are already dead.
I am very much alive.
And if you try to take a bite out of my empire,
you will find that it is laced with poison."
Sterling’s confident smile faltered for a fraction of a second,
his gray eyes narrowing slightly.
"Is that a threat,
Mrs. Vance?"
"It is an accounting warning,"
I corrected,
turning on my heel and walking away from him into the crowd,
leaving him standing alone under the glare of the chandeliers.
As I exited the ballroom,
Arthur met me near the valet station.
"How did it go?"
Arthur asked quietly.
"He is going to launch the injunction at midnight,"
I said,
stepping into the back of my private sedan.
"Call our forensic tech team in London.
It is time to look into Sterling Global Capital’s short positions."
"Short positions?"
Arthur blinked in surprise.
"Sterling didn't just lend money to Dominic,"
I explained,
looking out the tinted window as the city lights flashed past.
"He bet against Vextor Dynamics stock three weeks ago,
expecting Dominic's lawsuit to crash our price.
He is heavily leveraged.
He needs our stock to drop,
or his own fund faces a massive margin call."
I turned to Arthur,
my eyes bright with cold determination.
"We are not going to defend our IP in court,
May you like
Arthur.
We are going to trap Harrison Sterling in his own short squeeze."
