Chapter 2 - The Sound of Shattered LegacyVictoria realized the gravity of the situation a second later than her son. The Vance family name was everything—it was built on media conglomerates, real estate empires, and an unblemished public image that could be instantly shattered by a domestic abuse scandal or a high-profile messy divorce.
"Audrey... let's not be hasty," Victoria said, her tone shifting abruptly from aristocratic fury to a sickeningly sweet, calculated diplomacy. She took a slow, cautious step backward, her hands raised placatingly. "Families disagreements happen. Emotions are running high. We can sit down, have a glass of wine, and talk about whatever allowances or property you want. There is no need for... for legal documents tonight."
"It's not a negotiation, Victoria," I replied, holding her gaze with unwavering steadiness. "It's an exit."
Dominic let out a muffled groan against the rug. "Mom... sign it... just make her let go..."
"Shut up, Dominic, you absolute fool!" Victoria hissed beneath her breath, momentarily breaking her composure before smoothing her expression back into a mask of false calm. She looked at me, her eyes narrowing with hidden malice. "You think you can just walk away from a Vance? If you leave this penthouse with an annulment, you leave with nothing. We will sue you into oblivion. We will ensure you never work a day in this city again."
I almost laughed. It was genuinely amusing how men like Dominic and women like Victoria believed that wealth was the only leverage that mattered in this world. They had no idea who my family was, because for three years, I had deliberately kept my father’s name out of my relationship with Dominic.
I didn't want a man who loved my father’s billions. I wanted a man who loved me.
Well, I had found out the hard way that Dominic loved neither. But my father? My father had been waiting for this exact moment.
"You think your money and your lawyers can bury me?" I asked quietly.
Before Victoria could answer, my phone buzzed inside the pocket of my wedding dress. I didn't let go of Dominic’s arm. Instead, using my elbow, I fished the phone out, tapped speakerphone, and tossed it onto the carpet between us.
A deep, gravelly, and unmistakably powerful voice filled the quiet bedroom.
"Audrey, sweetheart," my father’s voice echoed through the penthouse. "Marcus Vance just tried to block my corporate acquisition of his primary shipping lanes. I told him we'd discuss it after I checked in on my daughter's wedding night. Is everything settled over there?"
Victoria’s breath hitched. The color completely drained from her face, leaving her looking like a porcelain doll that had been left out in the rain.
"Marcus Vance?" Victoria whispered, stumbling backward until her back hit the bedroom door frame. "Marcus Vance... your father is Marcus Vance?"
Marcus Vance—the ruthless, multi-billionaire shipping tycoon who owned half the ports on the Eastern Seaboard and whose corporate empire dwarfed the Vances' real estate holdings threefold.
"Yes, Dad," I replied clearly into the speaker. "Everything is being settled right now. Dominic was just about to sign the annulment papers."
"Good," my father rumbled over the line. "Tell him if he takes more than ten seconds, I'll foreclose on his mother's summer estate before breakfast."
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Dominic stopped breathing. Underneath my grip, his entire body went rigid with sheer, unadulterated panic. He didn't doubt my father for a second. Everyone in the corporate world knew that when Marcus Vance made a threat, he executed it with terrifying efficiency.
"I'll sign!" Dominic choked out, his voice cracking with desperation. "I'll sign right now! Just get the pen!"
