Chapter 6 - The Viper’s Retaliation
While the greenhouse flourished with life, dark currents were moving beneath the polished surface of Chicago’s corporate underworld.
Aurelia Vance might have been locked behind bars, but she had spent twenty years married to a billionaire real estate titan; she knew where the bodies were buried, and she had accumulated a vast network of ruthless allies who had profited off her husband’s ruthless expansions.
Inside a dimly lit private dining room in downtown Chicago, a man with cold, sunken eyes and an expensive bespoke suit swirled amber scotch in a crystal glass.
His name was Victor Sterling. He was Richard Vance’s fiercest corporate rival, a man who had spent a decade trying to execute a hostile takeover of Vance Global Properties.
Across the table sat a greasy, disbarred corporate lawyer who had once handled Aurelia’s secret offshore accounts.
"Is the paperwork ready?" Victor asked, his voice low and grating.
"Everything is airtight, Mr. Sterling," the lawyer said, sliding a thick manila folder across the mahogany table. "When Richard Vance signed over the deed to the old estate greenhouse and the surrounding acreage to a minor named Julian Brooks three weeks ago, he didn't check the municipal zoning annex."
Victor raised an eyebrow. "Explain."
"That greenhouse sits on the exact plot of land designated for the upcoming Interstate-90 commercial expansion project," the lawyer grinned maliciously. "The city council approved the eminent domain seizure yesterday morning. Because Julian Brooks is a minor with no legal guardian signatures from a biological parent—and because his mother’s signature was fraudulently acquired—the land reverts back to the municipal trust... which my firm conveniently represents."
Victor smiled, a cold, predatory expression. "And when we acquire the land through the city bypass, we control the entire northern access corridor to the Vance corporate headquarters. Richard won't be able to build his flagship tower."
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"More importantly," the lawyer added, leaning in close, "it will publicly humiliate him. He gifted multi-million-dollar land to a street kid, only to have it ripped away by a legal technicality within a month. It will destroy his reputation on the board."
"Execute the papers tomorrow morning," Victor ordered, sliding a heavy envelope of cash across the table. "Let’s see how fast the little street rat builds his garden when the bulldozers roll in."
