Chapter 17 - Poison in the Glass
The silence in the grand ballroom became suffocating.
Senator Callahan choked on his own breath, his face turning an unsightly shade of purple.
Victoria’s aristocratic poise shattered for a fraction of a second, her jaw tightening into a grotesque knot of fury.
"What did you say, girl?" Victoria hissed, taking half a step toward me, forgetting the hundreds of cameras and watchful eyes surrounding us.
"I said," I repeated with measured, terrifying clarity, "that before we left Havenbrook yesterday, Adrian granted me full executive proxy over his private archive."
"The archive you thought was destroyed in Prague."
I reached into my small velvet evening clutch and pulled out a sleek titanium flash drive.
It gleamed under the chandeliers like a bullet waiting to be loaded.
"Inside this drive are seven hundred encrypted files," I continued, staring down the most powerful woman in New York.
"Bank transfers signed by you, Victoria Vance."
"Wire transfers funding private militia contractors in Eastern Europe."
"And the personal ledger detailing forty million dollars funneled directly into Senator Callahan's re-election campaign to bury the grand jury investigation."
A collective gasp rippled through the gallery of guests.
Several prominent businessmen immediately turned their backs, signaling their retreat from Victoria’s sinking ship.
"You're bluffing," Victoria spat, her voice trembling with an ugly, unrefined panic.
"You're an uneducated orphan from Queens."
"You don't understand the mechanisms of this world."
"I lived in your world for four years, Victoria," I whispered, stepping so close I could smell the gin on her breath.
"I watched your son carry the weight of your rot until it nearly killed his soul."
"You thought I was weak because I chose love over cruelty."
"You thought I was invisible because I stood in his shadow."
"Now look at me."
"I hold your life in my palm."
Adrian placed his hand over mine, his eyes gleaming with savage pride and unshakeable devotion.
"Here is the new deal, Mother," Adrian announced, loud enough for every board member and syndicate associate to hear.
"You will sign the irrevocable relinquishment of the Geneva Trust tonight."
"You will grant full, uninhibited legal custody of all Vance assets to Sophia and Claire."
"And you will board a one-way flight to our estate in Tuscany, never to set foot on North American soil again."
Victoria glared at her son, her chest heaving, the realization dawning that she had been completely outmaneuvered.
Suddenly, from the far corner of the ballroom, a waiter dropped a silver tray with a deafening crash.
Before the sound could even finish reverberating, the ornate chandeliers flickered and died.
The entire Plaza plunged into pitch-black darkness.
May you like
Screams erupted throughout the crowd as panic tore through the hall.
A cold hand grabbed my wrist in the dark, yanking violently.
