Chapter 5 - A Voice from the Crypt
I stared at the telephone console as if it were a venomous snake coiled on the mahogany desk. My fingers tightened around the velvet choker at my throat, concealing the bruise Julian had left behind.
"You're dead," I said, my voice shaking despite every ounce of willpower I possessed. "We held a funeral for you. We buried an empty casket in Richmond."
A heavy sigh came over the line, followed by the faint clinking of a lighter. "Funerals are for people who want to be remembered, Elena. Disappearing was the only way to keep the cartel creditors away from your mother’s door. Julian was supposed to be a guardian, an ambitious young broker who could manage my offshore trust and quietly funnel funds into your luxury lines."
"A guardian?" A bitter laugh escaped my chest, tearing through my throat. "He stole every patent I designed. He liquidated my mother's trust. And three hours ago, he forced me to my knees and cut my hair off in front of his mistress to force me to sign away my rights!"
The silence on the other end of the line was deafening. When Arthur Vance spoke again, the gravel in his voice had turned to jagged obsidian.
"He touched you?"
"He ruined me for fourteen years while you watched from London!" I shouted, tears of rage finally spilling over my eyelashes. "You gave a psychopath the keys to my life and called it protection!"
"Julian told me you were happy," Arthur said quietly, the tremor of genuine shock cracking his composure. "Every quarterly report, every board memo... he presented Bell & Rose as a shared triumph. He told me the money I sent through Apex Crest was expanding your global footprint. He told me you were traveling, thriving."
"He kept me isolated in a glass cage," I hissed. "And Vanessa Sterling—his mistress—she drives a car bought with your money. She wears emeralds bought with my mother’s name."
"Vanessa *Sterling*?" Arthur asked, his voice suddenly sharp. "Her name is Vanessa Sterling?"
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"Yes," Rachel interjected into the speaker. "Mr. Vance, I am Elena’s corporate counsel, Rachel Hayes. Vanessa Sterling is listed as the minority shareholder of Apex Crest's holding arm. Is she related to your holding firm?"
Arthur didn't answer for several seconds. When he did, his voice was filled with a chilling finality. "Vanessa is the daughter of my former business partner, Richard Sterling. The man who tried to kill me nine years ago on that boat."