Chapter 16 - The Meeting with the Predator
At ten o’clock the following morning, the private elevator of the penthouse opened with a soft chime.
A woman stepped into the foyer with the grace and predatory stillness of a panther.
She wore a bespoke charcoal wool suit, an emerald-cut diamond ring that caught the sunlight, and carried no briefcase.
She was in her late fifties, with sharp silver-streaked hair cut into a severe bob.
This was Victoria Sterling.
She looked around the vast living space with calculating, unimpressed eyes before fixing her gaze on me.
"You must be Paige," she said, her voice smooth, cultured, and devoid of warmth.
"And you must be Julian Sterling’s long-lost daughter," I replied, standing in the center of the room, unmoving.
"I expected someone older," Victoria remarked, taking two steps forward into the room.
"Eleanor described you as a manipulative social climber who seized an old man’s mind in his final moments."
"Eleanor also believed she could steal an entire building by changing the locks," I noted coolly.
"Her perception of reality has never been particularly accurate."
Victoria offered a cold, humorless smile.
"Eleanor is an idiot, Mrs. Vance."
"A provincial, entitled idiot who squandered twenty million dollars on bad investments and worthless European titles."
"I don't care about Eleanor."
"And I certainly don't care about her pathetic son sitting in a jail cell downtown."
"Then why are you here, Victoria?"
Victoria reached into her coat and pulled out a slim, gold-embossed folder, placing it casually on the edge of the entry table.
"I am here to offer you an exit," Victoria said evenly.
"My legal team is prepared to tie this estate up in surrogate court for the next seven years."
"Even with Walter’s documents, every single account will remain locked in escrow."
"You will not be able to sell."
"You will not be able to refinance."
"The property taxes on this parcel alone are four hundred thousand dollars a year."
"Without access to the foundation trust, you will default within eighteen months."
"The city will seize the building, and my consortium will buy it at auction for pennies on the dollar."
She took another step toward me, her gaze dropping to the nursery door down the hall.
"Take ten million dollars today, Paige."
"Sign over the commercial ground leases to my holding company."
"Keep this penthouse for your daughter."
"And walk away from the Vance name entirely."
"If you refuse, I will crush you."
"Not out of malice, but because it is simply good business."
I looked at the woman who thought the world could be bought with predatory threats and paper injunctions.
I didn't blink.
"You talk a great deal about business, Victoria," I said, walking slowly toward her.
"Yet you failed to perform basic due diligence before filing your summons this morning."
Victoria’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"What due diligence?"
"You assumed your father died six months ago in Singapore," I said softly.
"You assumed the offshore accounts you inherited held legitimate claims against Walter's estate."
"Did your father never tell you why he left New York in nineteen ninety-four, Victoria?"
"Did he never tell you about the federal indictment for wire fraud that was sealed by the Southern District court?"
Victoria’s composure cracked, a microscopic flicker of tension passing over her jawline.
"My father was an honorable man," she hissed.
"Your father was a fugitive, Victoria," I said, reaching into my pocket and dropping a certified document onto the table next to her folder.
"And the cash settlement Walter gave him was recorded as restitution to the federal government."
"If you reopen that probate, you aren't reopening an estate claim."
"You are unsealing a thirty-year-old criminal investigation into your own family's offshore money laundering."
"An investigation that names your current corporate fleet as the beneficiary."
Victoria stared at the federal seal on the document, her face draining of color.
"Where did you get this?" she whispered.
"I got it from the safe Walter trusted me to protect," I replied, stepping directly into her personal space.
May you like
"Take your buyout offer and get out of my home."
"Before I hand this file to the United States Attorney."
