Chapter 5 - The Unmarked Van
The screech of tires cut sharply through the quiet morning air, causing Catherine Vance to slam her foot onto the brake pedal just inches from the front bumper of the unmarked black van. Dust billowed across the cobblestone courtyard, settling over the hood of the sedan. Elena instinctively braced her hands against the dashboard, her dark eyes narrowing as she studied the vehicle blocking their exit. The tinted side door of the van slid open with a sharp mechanical click, revealing a burly man in a dark tactical jacket. He did not wear a name badge, but the heavy silver signet ring on his right hand gleamed ominously in the morning sun—a ring bearing an emblem that made Catherine's usually composed face instantly pale.
"Stay in the car, Elena," Catherine commanded, her voice dropping an octave into a tone of absolute, chilling command.
"Mom, what is that?" Elena asked, her fingers tightening around the door handle. "Who is that?"
Before Catherine could answer, the man in the van stepped down onto the pavement, ignoring the Sterlings entirely as he marched directly toward the driver's side window of the Vance sedan. He pulled a heavy manila envelope from his jacket pocket and tossed it onto the hood, sliding it across the glass until it rested directly in front of Catherine's face.
"A message from the old guard," the man said, his voice raspy and devoid of emotion. "You took the Sterling estate, Catherine. But you forgot to check who held the underlying mortgage on the commercial holdings downtown."
Veronica, who had been watching the confrontation from a few feet away, suddenly stopped weeping. A slow, desperate smile crept across her face as she recognized the emblem on the man's ring.
"They didn't tell you, did they, Catherine?" Veronica taunted, stepping closer to the van with a renewed surge of arrogant defiance. "The Sterling empire wasn't just built on local capital. We answered to international partners. And your corporate takeover just stepped on toes much larger than yours."
Catherine ignored Veronica completely. She reached out with gloved fingers, picked up the manila envelope, and pulled out a single sheet of dark grey paper embossed with a foreign seal. Her eyes scanned the text for only three seconds before the color drained entirely from her cheeks, leaving her looking uncharacteristically vulnerable.
"Turn the car around, Elena," Catherine whispered, her hands trembling slightly as she dropped the paper onto the console.
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"We are not running, Mom," Elena said, her voice hard as steel. She reached across the console, grabbed the grey paper, and read the bold headline out loud: Global Asset Reversion Act: All Vance Holdings Frozen Effective Immediately.
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