Chapter 3 - The Paperwork of RuinBack in the boardroom, the reality of the situation was beginning to tear the Vance family apart.
"This is illegal!" Derek shrieked, his face flushed with an ugly, sweat-slicked rage as he pointed a trembling finger at me. "You can't just cancel our supply contracts! We have a binding five-year agreement with Apex!"
Thomas Vance didn't even look up from his papers. "Section 14, Paragraph B of the Apex Master Supply Agreement states that any corporate partner whose executive officers engage in acts of gross moral turpitude, domestic felony assault, or criminal endangerment shall suffer immediate, unappealable contract termination."
Thomas pulled out a sleek digital tablet, tapping the screen once.
The high-definition display on the boardroom wall lit up, projecting crystal-clear security camera footage, medical forensics, and audio recordings directly onto the glass.
The room filled with the chilling sound of Derek’s voice recorded from the mansion's hallway:
"She did it to herself! She's crazy! You cannot take her out of this house!"
Followed by the certified medical report from Saint Jude Hospital detailing Arianne’s fractured ribs, toxicological reports showing high doses of unauthorized sedatives, and high-resolution photographs of the purple finger-marks bruised deep into her wrists.
Roger Vance turned slowly toward his son, his eyes wide with absolute, horrified shock.
"You... you drugged her?!" Roger whispered, his voice shaking. "You beat her and sedated her in our own home?!"
"She was gonna leave me, Dad!" Derek yelled defensively, his composure completely shattering. "She was packing a bag! She said she was taking Gideon and going to her father's house! I had to stop her!"
THWACK!
Roger stood up and delivered a thunderous, full-force slap across Derek’s face.
Derek stumbled sideways, crashing against the mahogany table, clutching his reddening cheek in total, speech-bound shock.
"YOU IDIOT!" Roger roared, tears of rage and terror bursting from his eyes. "YOU ABSOLUTE FOOL! YOU DESTROYED OUR ENTIRE LIVES FOR YOUR EGO!"
Bertha fell flat onto her knees right on the boardroom floorboards, her designer dress rumpled, her pearl necklace tangling around her neck as she reached her hands out toward me in a desperate, groveling plea.
"Baldric! Please!" Bertha wept, her voice cracking into pathetic, shrill squeaks. "We didn't know! We thought Derek was just having an argument with her! We're family! Arianne is my daughter-in-law! Think of your grandson, Gideon!"
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I looked down at the woman who had blocked a bathroom doorway while my daughter lay unconscious on the cold tile floorboards.
"Do not speak my grandson's name, Bertha," I said softly, every word cold as mountain ice. "You stood by and watched your son poison my child. You told me it was a 'family matter.' Now... it's a legal matter."
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