Arthur Vance stood abruptly, his chair screeching violently against the hardwood floor.
His smug, aristocratic mask cracked. He stared at me in the tailored suit, his eyes dropping to my pregnant stomach, and then back up to my face. The absolute shock radiating from him was palpable. He hadn’t recognized me as his sister in the crosswalk. He had hit me, shoved me, and thrown money at me, entirely unaware that the "bloodline" he had insulted was his own.
“You,” Arthur breathed, the color draining from his face before returning in a dark, violent flush of rage.
“Hello, Arthur,” I said evenly, walking forward until I stood at the opposite end of the long table. “I believe we’ve already met.”
Richard frowned, looking between us. “You know each other?”
Arthur’s panic lasted only a second before his corporate instincts took over. He slammed his palms flat on the mahogany table, leaning forward aggressively.
“Know her? Father, this woman is a professional scam artist!” Arthur shouted, pointing a furious finger at me. He looked at the board, spinning his web instantly. “This morning, I was driving through Beverly Hills. This woman deliberately stepped in front of my car. She threw herself onto the asphalt, using her pregnancy as a shield, and tried to extort me for cash! She demanded money to stay quiet!”
The board members gasped, murmuring in shocked alarm.
I stared at him, staggered by his immediate, effortless lying. “That is a lie. You ran a red light. You hit me, you pushed me, and you threw your money at my face.”
“A desperate extortionist!” Arthur yelled over me, addressing the board. “And now, conveniently, she shows up claiming to be the lost heir? It’s a long con! She targeted my car. She found out about your illness, Father, forged whatever DNA documents Sterling is parading around, and is trying to steal the company!”
“The DNA was verified by three independent labs, Arthur,” Sterling said sharply, stepping to my side. “She is your sister.”
“She’s a gutter rat!” Arthur snarled, his composure completely gone. “Look at her! She’s nothing! You cannot hand over a forty-billion-dollar empire to a pregnant beggar who tried to scam me for insurance money this morning! The board won't allow it. We have a morality clause to protect the company from criminals!”
The room devolved into a shouting match. Several board members stood up, siding with Arthur, expressing outrage at the idea of a targeted hit-and-run extortion plot.
Richard slammed his cane against the floor.
The sharp crack silenced the room. Richard looked exhausted, his breathing shallow, but his gaze was unyielding.
“The shares belong to Sarah,” Richard said firmly. “But I will not let a shadow of extortion hang over her succession. We will recess this meeting for twenty-four hours. Sterling, Arthur, you will both provide your evidence to the board tomorrow regarding this morning’s incident. If Sarah is cleared, the transfer is absolute. If she is an extortionist, I will revoke the claim.”
Richard looked at me with deep, apologetic sorrow before the estate nurses wheeled him quickly out of the room. He was failing. The stress of the confrontation had clearly taken a severe toll on his heart.
The board members filed out rapidly, whispering furiously to one another, leaving a chillingly empty room.
Sterling touched my arm. “I need to secure the original documents in the vault. Wait for me in the library across the hall. Do not leave the estate.”
I nodded, feeling a cold sweat prickling the back of my neck. I walked across the marble hall and slipped into the massive, two-story library. It was dim, smelling of old paper and leather. I sank into a heavy wingback chair, wrapping my arms around my stomach, trying to calm my racing heart.
A heavy thud made me jump.
The library doors closed, and the lock clicked shut.
Standing by the door was Marcus, the giant bodyguard. He crossed his massive arms, his eyes dead and unblinking, physically blocking the only exit.
From the shadows near the fireplace, Arthur Vance stepped out. He had removed his suit jacket, rolling up his sleeves. Without the audience of the board, the charismatic CEO was gone. Only the monster remained.
“Did you really think you could walk into my house and take what is mine?” Arthur asked, his voice a low, vibrating hum of pure violence.
I stood up, my legs trembling, but I forced my chin high. “It’s half mine. And you knew it. That wasn’t a random accident this morning. You were tracking me.”
Arthur smiled, a cold, empty pulling of his lips. He walked slowly toward me.
“You’re smarter than you look,” he said, stopping a few feet away. “Yes, Sarah. I’ve known about you for three days. My private security flagged Sterling’s database inquiries. I saw the DNA match. I saw the photos of the sad little waitress living in a shoebox.”
“You hit a pregnant woman on purpose,” I whispered, horrified by the casual cruelty in his eyes.
“I didn’t hit you on purpose,” Arthur corrected smoothly, leaning in close. “If I had hit you on purpose, you wouldn’t have walked away. This morning was just a bump. A warning. I dropped my file by mistake, but the message remains the same. I wanted you to see what happens when you get in the way of a moving machine.”
I took a step back, my shoulder hitting the bookshelf. “I’m going to tell the board. I’m going to tell our father.”
“Tell them what?” Arthur laughed. “That I accidentally hit you in a crosswalk? It’s my word against yours, and I am the CEO. They already believe you’re an extortionist. And by tomorrow, my security team will have fabricated a dozen witnesses claiming you jumped in front of my car.”
He reached out, his finger tracing a terrifyingly slow line down the lapel of my tailored suit, before stopping hovering just inches above my pregnant stomach. I flinched away, slapping his hand hard.
Arthur’s eyes flared with violent heat. He grabbed my wrist, his grip like a steel vise, squeezing until I gasped in pain.