Chapter 7 - The Reckoning of Victoria Vance
"Audrey! What is the meaning of this charade?!" Victoria hissed, trying to keep her voice down but failing to hide her rage. "How dare you embarrass us like this! Where did you get these clothes? Who are you sleeping with to pull off this stunt?"
Sophia Sterling stepped forward. "Be very careful with your words, Mrs. Vance. You are speaking to the sole heir of the Lin Industrial Trust, worth eighty million dollars. And the woman who owns sixty-two percent of your son’s company."
Dominic’s face drained of all color. "Eighty... eighty million? Audrey... you... you had that money all along?"
"Yes, Dominic," I said, looking him dead in the eye. "I wanted a husband who loved me for who I was, not what I owned. But you couldn't even give me basic respect. You let your mother treat me like a servant, and you cheated on me while I was carrying your child."
A collective gasp went up from the nearby guests who were listening in.
"Audrey, please," Dominic begged, dropping to his knees right there on the ballroom floor. "I didn't know! I swear I didn't know about the baby! Please, don't ruin me. Save the company. We can start over!"
"Start over?" I laughed, a cold, dark sound. "You are sterile, Dominic. You lost your only child because your mother pushed me down the stairs. There is no starting over."
Victoria’s face turned purple. "She’s lying! She fell! It was an accident!"
"It wasn't an accident, Victoria," Alex Reed stepped in, his voice booming through the silent room. "The forensic report from the hospital and the security camera footage we recovered from the estate's entryway clearly show you pushing Audrey. The police have already issued a warrant for your arrest for aggravated assault causing the termination of a pregnancy."
Right on cue, two uniformed police officers walked into the ballroom.
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Victoria screamed as the handcuffs clicked around her wrists. "Dominic! Save me! Do something!"
But Dominic couldn't do anything. He was trembling on the floor, completely broken, realizing that in his greed and arrogance, he had thrown away an empire, a fortune, and his only chance at a family.
