Chapter 4 - The House of Cards
Dr. Harrison finally walked over, gently placing my newborn son into my outstretched arms. The moment his tiny, warm body touched my chest, a fierce, unbreakable wave of protection surged through me. He had his uncle Jonathan’s brow, and my own stubborn spirit.
Jonathan Vance walked over, standing beside my bed, looking down at the baby with tears welling in his aged eyes. “May I hold my great-nephew, Vivian?”
I nodded, carefully transferring the baby into his grandfatherly arms. Jonathan cradled him with a practiced, gentle ease that made Julian look even more pathetic where he was pinned to the floor by the marshal.
“You’re ruined, Julian,” Jonathan said without looking back at his nephew. “Every shell company you set up in the Cayman Islands, every forged signature you used to push me out thirty years ago, and every fraudulent document you used to rob Vivian of her marital assets—it’s all documented in the folder she compiled while you and your mother thought she was starving in a rented apartment.”
“She was supposed to break!” Eleanor sobbed from her chair, her regal facade completely shattered. “We cut off her insurance! We made sure no one would hire her! She was supposed to give up custody and crawl away!”
“Instead, I learned how to audit a thief,” I said, standing up on shaky legs, my hospital gown rustling. I walked over to Eleanor, looking down at the woman who had smiled so coldly when Julian handed me those divorce papers. “You thought poverty was a weapon. You thought isolation would make me weak. But every night I cleaned office buildings and transcribed legal briefs, I was building the case that would tear your empire down to dust.”
Julian glared up at me from the floor, his eyes bloodshot and desperate. “Vivian... please. We’re married. We can fix this. Drop the charges, and I’ll give you half the estate—!”
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“We aren't married, Julian,” I interrupted coldly. “Your mother had your crooked family lawyer expedite a fraudulent fast-track divorce decree two months ago, forging my signature on the final settlement papers. Fortunately for me, forgery is a federal felony.”
A second marshal stepped into the room, holding a second pair of handcuffs and looking directly at Eleanor Vance.
