Chapter 10 - A New Legacy
Victoria screamed and thrashed as the cold steel snapped around her wrists. Her designer suit wrinkled, her perfect hair unraveled. She looked nothing like the untouchable billionaire who had stood on the marble staircase just days before.
"You can't do this! I built this company! You're just a child!" she screamed at Julian as the agents dragged her toward the elevators. "You'll ruin everything!"
Julian stood up slowly. He walked over to her, his expression entirely unreadable. He leaned in close, so only she could hear him over the chaos.
"You built nothing, Victoria," he whispered. "You only stole. And the Sterling-Vance legacy doesn't belong to thieves."
As the elevator doors closed on Victoria's screaming face, a heavy silence fell over the boardroom. The fifty most powerful men and women in the corporate world turned to look at the eleven-year-old boy standing at the head of the table.
Julian walked back to the oversized leather chair. He picked up his grandfather's silver pocket watch, tracing the roaring lion crest with his thumb. He snapped the secret compartment shut and placed it in his vest pocket.
He looked around the room, meeting the eyes of every single executive. There was no fear in them anymore. Only respect, and perhaps a healthy dose of terror.
"Mr. Caldwell," Julian said, his voice calm and commanding.
"Yes, Mr. Chairman?" Caldwell replied, a proud gleam in his eye.
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"Cancel all of Victoria's pending asset liquidations. And get me the files on our international shipping fleets. We have a lot of lost time to make up for."
Julian turned his chair to look out the floor-to-ceiling windows. Below him, the bustling streets of Manhattan looked like a model city. For ten years, he had lived in the shadows, fighting for scraps, learning to survive the cold. Now, he was the king of the skyline. The boy who was erased had returned, and the Vance dynasty was finally, truly, his.
