Chapter 6 - The Unraveling of a Tyrant
As if summoned by his words, the quiet hum of Victoria’s gold-encased smartphone inside her beige trouser pocket suddenly shattered into a frenzy of emergency chimes.
Her hand trembled as she reached down, dropping her wine glass. The thin crystal shattered against the stone, splashing deep red liquid across her beige trousers and mixing with the brown espresso stain on the floor. She didn't even notice. She pulled out her phone, her eyes frantically reading the cascade of automated notifications flooding her screen.
ALERT: VANCE HOLDINGS OVERSEAS TRUST - ACCOUNT SUSPENDED.
ALERT: CREDIT LINE #4092 TERMINATED BY MAJORITY SHAREHOLDER.
ALERT: ASSET SEIZURE NOTICE - REAL ESTATE PARCEL 001-MONTGOMERY.
"No..." Victoria gasped, her breath catching violently in her chest as she scrolled through the notifications with a trembling thumb. Her pristine, carefully constructed reality was disintegrating at a rate of millions of dollars per second. "No! This is illegal! You cannot strip my trust! I am your mother!"
"You were a trustee," Julian corrected, his voice as cold and precise as a surgeon's scalpel. "And trustees can be removed for gross negligence and abuse of authority. Did you really think I didn't install security cameras in the servants' quarters before I left for London, Victoria?"
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Victoria's head snapped up, her blue eyes filled with a sudden, sickening realization.
"I saw what you did to Clara last night," Julian continued, taking another half-step forward, looming over her like a vengeful god. "I saw you throw her medical supplies into the incinerator because she was ten minutes late with your tea. I saw you threaten to put her mother in an uninsured care facility if she spoke a word."
