Chapter 10 - The Alliance of Shadows
The grief and fury that washed over me were so intense, so blindingly hot, that every sound in the room faded into a dull, distant hum.
I looked back up at Victor, my voice trembling with a quiet, lethal intensity that made even the seasoned criminal defense strategist take a half-step back. "If you knew this... if you had the proof... why bring it to me now? Why didn't you stop them six months ago?"
Victor let out a slow, heavy sigh, crossing his arms over his chest. "Because six months ago, I was locked out of the country with a target on my back. Howard and Eleanor had frame-job federal warrants waiting for me if I ever crossed the border. I needed someone with the financial leverage, the legal armor, and the absolute ruthlessness to break their hold on the family foundation first."
He gestured broadly toward the room, toward the sprawling estate, toward the entire Washington elite we had just humiliated an hour ago.
"You did the dirty work for me, Audrey," Victor said coolly. "You stripped them of their money, their status, and their public dignity. Now, they are completely vulnerable."
Julian slipped the toxicology report back into its folder, looking at me with grim determination. "Mrs. Vanderbilt, if we take this report to the federal prosecutor tonight, Howard, Eleanor, and Dr. Harrison will be arrested for premeditated capital murder before dawn."
"No," I said, my voice dropping into a low, terrifying register as a cold, absolute clarity took hold of my mind. "Arrest is too easy. They don't just deserve a jail cell."
I stepped up to the edge of the desk, locking eyes with Victor Vance.
"You want your family’s empire back, Victor? You want revenge for being cast out?" I asked.
May you like
Victor’s eyes gleamed with a dark, shared ambition. "Name your terms."
"We don't go to the police," I whispered, a dark smile touching my lips. "We invite them to a private family dinner tomorrow night—right here in this house. And by the time dessert is served, they won't just be broke. They'll be begging us for a quick death."
