Chapter 2: The Fall of the House of Arthur

Chapter 2: The Fall of the House of Arthur

My jaw felt like it had been shattered into pieces, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the ice-cold terror gripping my chest.

Harrison Vance.

Ava was a Vance. The reclusive heiress to the largest shadow fortune in the country. The woman I had spent two years treating like a penniless nobody because my father told me she had "no background."

"What is the meaning of this?!" my father, Arthur, barked, though I could hear the desperate panic bleeding into his voice. He looked around the room for support, but our "elite" friends—the senators, the judges, the investors—were all backing away, actively trying to blend into the wallpaper. No one wanted to be associated with us anymore.

"Arthur," the city mayor whispered from a front table, his face pale as he grabbed his coat. "You're on your own. That’s Harrison Vance."

Harrison pulled a pristine white silk handkerchief from his pocket and gently wiped a stray drop of blood from Ava’s lip. The tenderness he showed his daughter contrasted horribly with the lethal aura radiating off his body.

"Two years ago, Arthur," Harrison said softly, turning his gaze toward my father. "Your company was facing a federal audit. Do you remember who anonymously bought out your debt and cleared your name?"

Arthur swallowed hard, his hands shaking as he clutched his wine glass. "The Vanguard Trust..."

"I am the Vanguard Trust," Harrison countered. He snapped his fingers once.

Behind him, his assistant opened a sleek black briefcase and pulled out a stack of legal documents.

"As of thirty seconds ago, the Vanguard Trust has pulled all funding from your firm," Harrison announced, his voice echoing with absolute finality. "Every loan has been called in. Every contract is nullified. By the time the markets open tomorrow morning, your stock will be worthless. You will be bankrupt, Arthur. And your son?"

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Harrison looked down at me, his eyes entirely devoid of human mercy.

"Your son is going to find out exactly what happens to cowards who put their hands on a Vance."