Chapter 9 - The Fall of the House of Vance
Heavy footsteps echoed from the vaulted entryway as federal agents in suits and uniformed officers flooded the Grand Sovereign Ballroom. They did not move toward Victoria; they moved with clinical precision toward Arthur and Eleanor Vance. Subpoenas and arrest warrants were served in front of the horrified gaze of the entire city's elite.
Eleanor backed away, her hands clutching her diamond necklace as if the cold stones could shield her from the reality crushing her family. She looked at Victoria, searching for a sign of remorse, a sliver of hesitation, but found only a mirror reflecting her own lifelong ruthlessness turned back upon her with absolute mathematical certainty. The crowd of wealthy onlookers, ever loyal only to survival, quietly stepped back, leaving the Vance family isolated in a ring of open marble floor.
