Chapter 2 - The Foundation’s Dark Secret
Victoria snatched the crumpled receipt from the instant noodle lid, her diamond-encrusted fingers trembling. Her sharp eyes scanned the faded thermal ink, expecting a joke, a bakery bill, or perhaps a blatant insult. Instead, the merchant name printed at the top made the blood drain entirely from her face. It read: Sterling Trust Liquidation Services, Account 409.
"Where did you get this?" Victoria whispered, her aristocratic facade shattering in an instant.
Julian stared at his mother in utter confusion, leaning over the table to inspect the paper. "Mom? What is that account? I’ve never heard of it."
Chloe uncrossed her arms, resting her hands lightly on the edge of the table. "Of course he hasn't, Julian. Your mother keeps Account 409 hidden because it’s where she funnels the charity donations meant for the city's youth shelters. I spent your $200, Julian—well, $194 of it—to buy out their entire inventory of discounted emergency rations from the warehouse your mother secretly liquidated last Tuesday."
Victoria slammed her hand down onto the slow cooker, making the metal lid rattle violently. "You are trespassing on decades of philanthropy you are too ignorant to understand! That liquidation was necessary to save the endowment!"
"By starving three hundred homeless teenagers of their winter meal budget?" Chloe countered, her voice dangerously quiet. "I recorded the warehouse transfer logs yesterday afternoon."
Julian stepped back, staring at his mother as if seeing a stranger for the first time. "You closed the downtown shelter? But you told the board the heating system simply failed beyond repair."
"Quiet, Julian!" Victoria snapped, her voice breaking with panic.
Chloe turned slowly toward the grand ballroom doors, where several influential board members had just begun to gather, drawn by the rising voices.
May you like
"Too late for quiet, Victoria," Chloe murmured, lifting a small flash drive from her pocket. "The livestream to the entire board’s personal devices started three minutes ago."
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