Chapter 3: The Reckoning
Chapter 3: The Reckoning
"Are you insane?!" Cersei yelled, pushing through the crowd toward the stage. "Sion, stop this embarrassing prank right now! You're a house husband! You don't own anything!"
Sion looked down at her from the stage, his eyes completely devoid of the warmth she had taken for granted for three years.
"I was a house husband because I promised your grandfather I would protect you," Sion said calmly into the mic, letting the entire room hear. "But you thought my silence was weakness. You thought your success was yours."
The giant screens behind Sion suddenly changed. Documents, wire transfers, and legal deeds flashed in rapid succession.
"Three years ago, Vance Corp was bankrupt," Sion announced. "Who do you think paid off your $20 million debt? Look at the signature on the secret trust."
Cersei’s eyes tracked the document on the screen. The benefactor's name wasn't a bank. It was Sion Vance-Vanguard.
"No... no, that's impossible," Eleanor stammered, her face turning a sickly shade of green. "You're a nobody!"
"Every contract you won, every doors that opened for you, it was all because of my name," Sion continued, stepping down from the stage until he was inches from Cersei. "I gave you the world, Cersei. And you threw me out because I made you pasta."
The Apex CEO panicked, shouting, "Security! Get this liar out of here!"
But the security guards didn't move. Instead, the head of security bowed to Sion. "Sir, the police and the feds are outside. They have the warrants for Apex Group for intellectual property theft and corporate espionage."
Federal agents flooded the room, immediately putting handcuffs on the Apex CEO.
Cersei felt the room spinning. Her company was bankrupt, her reputation was about to be dragged into the mud, and the man she had ridiculed for years was the most powerful figure in the room.
"Sion... please," Cersei whispered, tears finally streaming down her face, reaching out to grab his sleeve. "I didn't know. I swear I didn't know. We can fix this. Come home. I love you."
Sion gently but firmly pulled his arm away from her touch.
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"The Vance family wanted a successful man," Sion said softly, turning his back on her. "You have one now. But he doesn't belong to you anymore."
As the feds began swarming the room and her mother fainted onto the carpet, Cersei watched the man who had loved her walk away into a sea of flashing cameras, completely out of her reach forever.
