Chapter 4 - The Sabotage
Jack Vance didn't become a real estate tycoon by ignoring threats.
Two weeks before graduation, Olga returned to her cramped apartment to find the door unlocked. Her heart leaped into her throat. She pushed the door open slowly, the hinges groaning.
The apartment had been tossed. Her mattress was flipped, her drawers emptied, her textbooks thrown across the floor.
Sitting at her tiny kitchen table, calmly swirling a glass of cheap whiskey he had found in her cabinet, was Blake.
"Looking for something, little sister?" Blake asked, his smug smile dripping with venom.
Olga’s blood ran cold, but her face remained a mask of stone. She had anticipated this. The navy binder wasn't here. It was locked in a secure locker at the university library.
"What are you doing in my apartment, Blake?" she asked, her voice steady.
Blake stood up, straightening his tailored suit, looking utterly out of place in her shabby kitchen. "Dad got a call from a friend at the bank. Someone flagged an unauthorized credit inquiry into one of our subsidiary LLCs. The IP address traced back to the university's network." He took a step closer, his eyes narrowing. "You've been playing on the computer, Ollie. What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm writing a thesis on corporate bankruptcy," Olga lied smoothly. "It's public record. If your company flagged it, maybe your security is just paranoid."
Blake grabbed her by the arm, his fingers digging painfully into her skin. "Listen to me, you pathetic loser. Dad is furious. He knows you're sniffing around because you're still bitter about Grandpa's money. Let it go. You don't have the brains to understand what we do."
He shoved her back, and Olga stumbled but caught herself on the counter.
"Dad wanted to remind you of your place," Blake sneered. "He made a call to the Dean of your department this morning. A generous 'donation' has been promised to the alumni fund. It would be a real shame if your grades suddenly... slipped. If you failed to graduate."
Panic flared in Olga’s chest, but she forcefully pushed it down. If they stopped her from graduating, she would lose her platform. She would lose access to the auditorium, to the investors, to her moment of justice.
"I'm not doing anything, Blake," she said softly, staring at the floor, playing the role of the defeated victim they expected her to be. "I just want to graduate and get a job. Please."
Blake laughed, a cruel, echoing sound. "That's what I thought. Know your limits, Ollie."
He walked out, leaving her in the wreckage of her apartment.
As the door clicked shut, Olga let out a shaky breath. Her hands were trembling, but not from fear. From rage.
The next morning, Olga walked into the Dean’s office. She didn't beg. She didn't cry. She placed a single, unmarked manila folder on his desk. It contained just three pages from the navy binder—a teaser. Proof that Vance Holdings was committing tax fraud, and a note indicating that if the university accepted Jack's bribe to fail her, they would be implicated in money laundering.
The Dean went pale. Olga's grades remained flawless.
May you like
Jack and Blake thought they had terrified her into submission. They thought they had won. They had no idea they had just armed a bomb.
👉 What happened on the morning of graduation when the family forced Olga to ride with them to the ceremony?
