Chapter 2 - The Crashing Empire
Richard grabbed his own phone from his tuxedo pocket with violently shaking hands.
He rapidly tapped the screen, opening his private financial tracking application.
The numbers staring back at him were glowing in a harsh, unforgiving red color.
"This is completely impossible," Richard whispered, dropping his phone onto the floor in pure shock.
The screen shattered, but the red line showing a ninety percent drop in stock value was still visible.
Elara casually swiped her finger across Vance's tablet, enjoying the look of absolute defeat on her father's face.
"When you tried to forge my signature yesterday, you triggered a fail-safe my mother built into the trust fund," Elara explained.
Camilla grabbed Richard by the shoulders, shaking him frantically.
"What is she talking about, Richard?" Camilla screamed, her eyes wide with greedy terror.
"The fail-safe automatically liquidated all unauthorized corporate transfers and froze the central offshore accounts," Elara continued calmly.
Julian, the handsome groom who had been standing frozen near the altar, suddenly moved.
He abandoned his beautiful bride, who was Camilla's spoiled daughter, and sprinted toward the side exit.
"Julian, where are you going?" the bride cried out, her heavy white dress rustling as she tried to follow him.
Julian ignored her completely, his perfectly styled hair now messy with panicked sweat.
He reached the side door, pushing hard against the heavy brass handles.
It did not budge even a single inch.
Two of Vance's suited men stepped out from the shadows of the draping curtains.
They grabbed Julian by the arms, effortlessly dragging him back toward the center of the ballroom.
"Get your filthy hands off me!" Julian yelled, struggling uselessly against the massive security guards.
Elara let out a short, hollow laugh that echoed across the terrified crowd.
"Did you really think you could just marry into this family, steal the hidden crypto wallets, and run away?" Elara asked him.
Julian's face went completely pale, realizing she knew every single detail of his secret plan.
"I have no idea what you are talking about," Julian lied, his voice cracking pathetically.
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Elara tapped the tablet one more time, projecting a massive audio file onto the ballroom's presentation screens.
"Let us listen to the phone call you made to Camilla last night, Julian," Elara announced softly.
