A tall, distinguished man with silver hair and wire-rimmed glasses walked through the front doors. He carried a sleek, titanium briefcase. He exuded an aura of absolute, bureaucratic lethality. He walked past Vanessa, who was backed against the wet bar, sobbing and clutching her face in sheer terror.
The man stopped directly in front of Adrian, looking down at him.
“Mr. Vale,” the man said. He didn’t yell. His voice was smooth, cold, and echoed with absolute, untouchable authority. “I am Arthur Vance, Chief Legal Counsel for Alexander Sterling and the Sterling International Trust. You have exactly ten minutes to vacate this property.”
“Vacate?” Adrian gasped. His voice cracked, high and pathetic. He pointed a trembling, desperate finger around the opulent grand hall. “This is my house! My name is on the deed! I paid for this!”
Arthur Vance didn’t blink. He unlatched his titanium briefcase and let the front drop open. He pulled out a heavy, thick stack of legal dossiers and dropped them onto the floor directly in front of Adrian’s knees.
“Your name is on a lease, Mr. Vale,” Arthur stated clinically. “A lease heavily subsidized by a blind trust wholly owned by Ms. Sterling. You do not own this property. You do not own the ground it sits on.”
Adrian stared at the papers, his mind fracturing. “My company… I built it…”
“The venture capital that miraculously saved your logistics firm from bankruptcy three years ago?” Arthur continued, his words falling like heavy stones, crushing Adrian’s ego into dust. “Her money. The board members who suddenly approved your elevation to CEO? Her father’s employees. The luxury cars in the garage? Corporate leases held by Sterling subsidiaries.”
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