Chapter 23 - The Collapse of the House of VanceVictor Vance lunged across the desk toward her, his hands clawing for the phone, but age and arrogance betrayed him. Before his fingers could graze her coat, the heavy oak study doors burst open.
Reyes stepped inside, flanked by federal agents, their weapons drawn and ready.
“Victor Vance, stay where you are,” Reyes commanded, his voice echoing off the glass walls.
Vance froze, his chest heaving, his eyes darting from the agents to Claire. The absolute emperor of the riverfront looked suddenly, pathetically old. As handcuffs were locked around his wrists, he stared at Claire with a mixture of disbelief and hollow respect.
“You played me,” Vance whispered as they pulled him toward the doors. “You used my own vanity against me.”
“No, Victor,” Claire replied, sliding her phone back into her pocket. “I just finished playing the game your way, long enough to break the board.”
By morning, the arrest of Victor Vance sent seismic shockwaves through the global financial markets. The Aethelgard portfolio was frozen under federal emergency liquidation orders. The secret trusts that had manipulated Morgan and Blackwood for half a century were dismantled piece by piece.
Unlike the previous trials, there was no dramatic courtroom showdown for Vance. Stripped of his institutional armor, the aging billionaire accepted a closed plea agreement that surrendered every remaining asset to a public restitution fund.
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Claire watched the news from her kitchen in the river house, sipping coffee while Winston snored softly at her feet.
The television anchor droned on about the end of an era, showing helicopter shots of Vance Manor surrounded by federal tape. Claire turned off the screen. She didn't feel victorious. She felt light.
