Chapter 6: Shadows on the Move**
By midday, the news had exploded across every major financial news outlet and social media platform: *BILLIONAIRE HEIRESS VICTORIA STERLING RESIGNS AFTER EXPOSING LATE FATHER’S DARK KIDNAPPING SCANDAL.*
Reporters swarmed Sterling Tower, but Victoria had already slipped out through an underground exit. Driving an unmarked sedan, she dialed the burner phone she had given Elena.
The phone rang four times before clicking open. But it wasn't Elena’s voice on the other end.
“Miss Sterling,” a rough, unfamiliar voice rasped. “Your mother had a little accident at her motel. She’s currently resting in the back of our van.”
Victoria slammed her foot on the brake, pulling the car over to the shoulder. Her heart hammered wildly against her ribs. “Who are you? What do you want?”
“Richard didn't take your public resignation very well,” the man sneered. “The Sterling stock plunged twenty percent in three hours. He wants you to sign a formal statement recanting your story, claiming you suffered a nervous breakdown and made it all up. If you don’t sign, your mother won’t survive the night.”
“Don't hurt her!” Victoria screamed, gripping the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white. “Send me the location. I will sign whatever he wants.”
“Come alone to the abandoned warehouse district on Pier 42. Bring the original adoption documents you stole from the family safe. If we see a single police cruiser, the old woman goes into the river.”
The call went dead.
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Victoria dropped the phone, gasping for air. Richard wasn't just greedy; he was desperate, cornered, and entirely unhinged. She had to act fast, not as a corporate executive, but as a daughter fighting for the only real family she had left.
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