“What is the meaning of this?” my father stammered, his face turning a sickly, pale color as his eyes scanned the Sterling Holdings corporate logo on the documents.
“That is the complete forensic audit of Sterling Holdings,” I announced to the crowd, looking directly into the media lenses of a local business reporter Chloe had invited to cover her party. “It documents exactly how Arthur and Eleanor Vance forged my signature on voting proxy forms while I was deployed, embezzled four million dollars from their children’s trust fund, and used a fraudulent corporate credit line to purchase this specific vessel.”
“You’re completely unhinged!” Chloe shrieked, her voice cracking with desperation. “Mom, call security! Have them thrown into the harbor!”
“Security isn’t coming for us, Chloe,” Leo spoke up, his voice steady and strong for the first time in his life. He pulled a pristine, heavy wooden box from his jacket and set it on the table. He opened the latch, revealing Grandpa’s original, polished Snap-on tools. “I bought them back. All of them. Along with the deed to this entire marina.”
My mother stumbled backward against the railing. “You… how could you afford that?”
“Because while you were busy popping champagne and letting your daughter break her body in a military clinic,” Harrison Vance announced, stepping onto the deck flanked by four federal marshals and two state police officers, “Vivienne was claiming a $2.4 million anonymous lottery payout. And she used every single dollar to buy out your lenders.”
My father’s jaw dropped, his hands shaking violently as the federal marshals moved forward.
“Arthur and Eleanor Vance,” the lead marshal stated, reading from a legal warrant. “You are officially under arrest for federal wire fraud, grand larceny, identity theft, and corporate embezzlement.”
Before the eyes of their high-society peers, the steel handcuffs clicked around my parents’ wrists. My mother began to sob hysterically, her expensive jewelry rattling as they led her down the gangplank.
Chloe turned to me, her face completely translucent with raw terror. “Vivienne, please… we’re sisters. You can’t let them take our lifestyle away. What am I supposed to do without the company?”
I looked down at her, entirely unmoved by her tears.
“You can take some Advil or something, Chloe,” I said flatly. “I hear it helps kill the vibe.”
