Chapter 10 - The Shadow Partner

My breath hitched slightly, but my heart rate remained steady.

I did not panic.

Four years of living with a predator had taught me that fear was a luxury I couldn't afford.

I hit a hotkey on my desk console, opening an instant secure line to my father’s private study.

"I saw the feed, Elena," my father’s voice came through the speaker instantly, cold as liquid nitrogen.

"Victor Vance," I said softly.

"Victor Vance," my father confirmed. "Former director of Vance Logistics, and the primary silent investor behind Nathan’s original expansion into Rotterdam."

"I thought we liquidated his shell companies six months ago, Dad."

"We liquidated his official assets, Elena," my father explained.

"Victor is part of the old European network."

"He doesn't use standard banks."

"He operates through bearer bonds and private physical vaults."

"And it appears Nathan gave him the master decryption key to your late mother's family trust before he was arrested."

A cold realization washed over me.

My mother had passed away when I was twelve.

Her family had owned an ancient, private banking charter in Zurich that had been dormant for thirty years.

I had assumed the charter was retired.

Nathan hadn't just been stealing from my father’s corporate intelligence network.

He had been digging into my mother’s dead family legacy behind my back for years.

"He was planning this long before Celeste arrived," I whispered into the line.

"Yes," my father replied grimly.

"Celeste was merely his catalyst."

"Victor Vance is landing at O'Hare International Airport in two hours."

"He believes he is coming to collect sixty million dollars."

"What do you want to do, Elena?"

I stood up from my desk, walking over to the floor-to-ceiling glass window overlooking the bustling Chicago loop.

I looked at my reflection in the glass—no longer the quiet, bruised wife hiding in the shadows of Blackthorn Manor, but a woman who commanded her own destiny.

"Tell David to prepare the Zurich charter files," I said, my tone flat and decisive.

"And call the federal prosecutor."

"If Victor Vance wants my mother's legacy..."

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"...I will give him the exact same justice I gave Nathan."

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