Chapter 13 - The Matriarch’s Last Stand
The mud-stained fabric of Beatrice Vance’s tailored purple suit whipped violently through the damp air as she charged across the concrete floor, her face contorted in absolute, feral rage. The federal marshals shouted warnings, their boots splashing through puddles as they scrambled to intercept her before she could reach Chloe.
“Get away from her!” Julian roared, finally shaking off his paralysis and lunging forward to grab his mother by the shoulders, slamming her momentum to a halt just inches away from Chloe’s face.
Beatrice shrieked, swinging her arms wildly and striking Julian across the cheek with a sharp, cracking blow that echoed off the metal walls. “You pathetic coward! You let this peasant destroy everything your grandfather bled for! Step aside and let me finish her!”
Julian didn’t flinch from the blow. He held his ground, gripping his mother’s forearms with a desperate, iron grip, his own eyes burning with a sudden, heartbroken fury. “It’s over, Mom! Look around you! The company is gone, the accounts are frozen, Uncle Marcus is in zip-ties, and Sterling is under arrest! There is nothing left to save!”
Beatrice froze, her manic breathing ragged as she stared up into her son’s bruised face. For a fraction of a second, the fierce, untouchable matriarch flickered out, revealing a terrified, aging woman who realized her entire life’s work had evaporated into thin air.
“No,” Beatrice whispered, her voice cracking into a pathetic whimper. “We are the Vances. We don’t lose. We own this city.”
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“You owned it by stepping on everyone else,” Chloe said softly, stepping around Julian to stand face-to-face with the broken woman. Chloe didn’t
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