Chapter 4 - The Unwelcome Visitor
Liam lowered the power window an inch, letting a sharp gust of cold rain spray across the dashboard. Standing outside in the downpour, ignoring the water streaming down his tailored gray overcoat, stood Marcus Vance—Liam’s younger brother and the current executive vice president of Vance Global. Marcus’s expression was an unreadable mask of corporate neutrality, his silver-rimmed glasses slightly fogged from the humidity of the night air.
"Move over, big brother," Marcus said, his voice clipped and carrying easily over the roar of the idling engine. "Mother wants a word with all of you in the private library before the press catches wind of this little performance."
Julian leaned across the center console, rolling the window down further. "Tell Evelyn she can take her private library and lock the doors from the inside. We are done playing her games."
"You aren't done with anything, Dad," Marcus replied smoothly, though his eyes darted nervously toward the rear passenger window where Clara sat slumped in defeat. "The board of directors was sitting in the fifth-row pews during the ceremony. When Evelyn announced that the wedding was a sham, she didn't just ruin a reception—she triggered the morality clause in Liam’s founding partnership agreement. As of twenty minutes ago, Liam’s voting shares reverted entirely to the family trust."
Liam stared at his brother, the sheer audacity of the maneuver taking his breath away. "She initiated the corporate takeover during the ceremony? While I was standing at the altar?"
"Mother doesn't do things by halves," Marcus said with a chilling lack of emotion. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a manila folder identical to the one in Clara's stolen photograph, holding it up against the rain-slicked glass. "She wants you to sign the voluntary resignation papers tonight, Liam. In exchange, she’ll drop the embezzlement audit against Clara and let you walk away with your personal savings intact."
"Blackmail," Julian growled, his hand gripping the door handle with enough force to warp the plastic trim. "She’s treating her own son like a corporate hostile takeover target."
"Business is business, Dad," Marcus said, offering a weak, apologetic shrug that lacked any real remorse. "Liam was always too soft for the board room. He cares about cures; Evelyn cares about control. You all knew the rules of the dynasty before you sat down at the table."
Clara suddenly shoved the back door open, the heavy wedding dress dragging through the mud as she scrambled out into the rain, desperate to put as much distance between herself and the brothers as possible. "I'm not signing anything else!" she screamed back at the car before sprinting toward her own waiting rental car parked near the gates.
May you like
Liam watched her go, a cold, bitter smile touching the corners of his mouth. He looked at Marcus through the gap in the window, his eyes burning with an intense, quiet resolve that made his younger brother involuntarily take half a step backward.
---
