Chapter 2 - The Erased Empire
The phone slipped from Julian's sweaty hand and shattered into pieces on the marble floor.
He stared at Silas with pure, unadulterated terror in his eyes.
"Who are you people?" Julian whispered, his arrogance entirely broken.
Arthur stepped in front of Silas and pulled a sleek, encrypted tablet from his coat pocket.
"We are the ultimate consequence of your actions," Arthur said calmly.
"For nine years, my little sister played the role of a quiet, obedient wife to protect her daughter from our world."
"She allowed you to build your pathetic little real estate company with her silent, brilliant guidance."
"But tonight, you decided to play god in this house and strike a child."
Arthur tapped the glowing screen of his tablet exactly once.
"So I decided to play god with your pathetic life."
"As of exactly two minutes ago, Vance Enterprises initiated a hostile takeover of your parent company."
Julian shook his head frantically, refusing to accept the nightmare.
"That is impossible!" Julian screamed, clutching his hair.
"My board of directors would never approve a sale without my direct signature!"
My youngest brother, Leo, stepped forward with a high-tech laptop resting in his hands.
"They didn't have a choice, Julian," Leo said with a boyish, dangerous grin.
"I spent the last five minutes exposing every illegal offshore account you used to evade federal taxes."
"The board unanimously voted to remove you immediately to save themselves from going to federal prison."
Julian fell heavily to his knees in the dust, hyperventilating.
Everything he had spent a decade building was completely gone in a matter of seconds.
Serena realized the sinking ship she had attached herself to was finally fully submerged.
She pushed herself off the wall and tried to sprint toward the shattered front doors.
Two heavily armed tactical operators instantly blocked her path, raising their assault rifles to her face.
"Let me go!" Serena shrieked, her fake tears ruining her perfect, expensive makeup.
"I have absolutely nothing to do with his business or his money!"
Leo typed rapidly on his illuminated keyboard and pulled up a hidden, encrypted file.
"That is a very interesting lie, Serena," Leo stated loudly for the room to hear.
He turned the laptop screen around so the glowing documents were visible to all of us.
"Or should I call you by your real name, Agent Natasha Rostova?"
Serena froze completely, the blood leaving her perfectly contoured face.
Julian looked up at his mistress in utter confusion and betrayal.
"What is he talking about?" Julian asked weakly.
Leo hit a button, and a series of massive, encrypted bank transfers filled the screen.
May you like
"She isn't just a greedy gold digger, Julian."
"She was hired six months ago by a rival syndicate to infiltrate your house and locate the hidden Vance heiress."
