Chapter 4 - The Mystery Beneficiary of the Offshore Accounts
"What do you mean the primary beneficiary isn't Victoria?" Clara stopped in her tracks, turning back toward the lawyer while Victoria strained her ears from across the ruined room.
David Vance stepped in closer, shielding the tablet screen with his broad shoulders. "Look at the routing numbers, Clara. The funds didn't go to any shell corporation controlled by your husband. They were funneled directly into a private trust managed by a woman named Sarah Jenkins—Richard Sterling's executive assistant."
Victoria’s head snapped up, her face draining of what little color remained. "Sarah? That worthless little country girl he hired six months ago? That's impossible! Richard loves me! We have an empire together!"
"An empire built on sand," David muttered, tapping the glass of the tablet. "Sarah Jenkins filed for personal bankruptcy protection in Delaware thirty minutes before the federal raid. She drained the accounts, liquidated her digital footprint, and boarded a private helicopter bound for Zurich."
Clara stared at the screen, her analytical mind instantly piecing together the terrifying puzzle. "She didn't just help him embezzle funds. She set him up to take the absolute fall so she could escape with the entire liquidity of the company."
"And my house? My jewelry? My bank accounts?" Victoria screamed, lunging blindly toward the lawyers, only to be blocked by the two burly security guards who had entered with the legal team. "I have rights! I demand to speak to my lawyer!"
"Your accounts were frozen by the federal magistrate at midnight," David replied coldly. "Every asset, every credit card, every vehicle registered to the Sterling name is now under federal receivership. You legally have forty-eight hours to vacate this property, Mrs. Sterling. Not a minute more."
Elizabeth Vance watched the scene with detached clinical interest before turning to her daughter. "It seems karma works faster than our legal department, Clara. But this goes deeper than corporate greed. Look at the date on Sarah Jenkins' employment contract."
Clara zoomed in on the document on the tablet, her breath catching in her throat. The hiring date coincided precisely with the day Clara’s late father’s estate was settled—the exact day Richard Sterling gained control of the Vance family's foundational patents.
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"She wasn't just an assistant," Clara whispered, a cold sweat breaking out across her collarbone. "She was planted there by someone from our past."
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