Chapter 5 - The Fall of the Vance Dynasty(Target: 2,000 words - Focus: The legal system takes over; Victoria and Gabriela are arrested for fraud and domestic abuse; the family estate is reclaimed.)
The public backlash against Victoria and Gabriela was unprecedented. Boycotts hit every subsidiary of the Vance Group. The board of directors held an emergency meeting and voted unanimously to remove Victoria as CEO, stripping her of her remaining stock options under the moral turpitude clause.
But the corporate downfall was only the beginning. The police department, backed by the irrefutable evidence from the press conference, launched an official criminal investigation.
Two days after the press conference, the eviction deadline arrived for the grand family mansion. I drove down to the estate with Esther, accompanied by the county sheriff and a moving crew.
As our SUV pulled up the long driveway, we saw Victoria and Gabriela standing on the front porch, surrounded by cardboard boxes. Their luxury cars had already been repossessed by the banks that morning.
"You monster!" Gabriela screamed as I stepped out of the car. "You took everything from us! We are your family!"
"Family doesn't lock family in a service kitchen, Gabriela," I said coldly.
Just then, two police cruisers pulled up behind my SUV. Four deputies stepped out, holding official arrest warrants.
"Victoria Vance? Gabriela Vance?" the sheriff announced. "You are under arrest for conspiracy to commit grand fraud, domestic abuse, and labor exploitation."
Victoria’s face drained of color. "Arrested? You can't arrest me! I am a Vance!"
"Not anymore," I said, standing beside Esther as the deputies stepped forward and placed the cold steel handcuffs around my mother's and sister's wrists.
Victoria looked at Esther, her eyes filled with desperate, pathetic pleading. "Esther... please... tell them to stop. You're a good girl, you're religious, you know about forgiveness... please tell Preston to drop the charges!"
Esther looked at the woman who had tormented her for months. Her expression wasn't angry; it was completely indifferent.
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"I do believe in forgiveness, Victoria," Esther said softly. "But forgiveness requires justice first. You earned this path yourself."
As the police cars drove away with Victoria and Gabriela crying in the back seats, Uncle Charles fled the state, facing federal tax evasion charges that my legal team had uncovered during the corporate audit. The old Vance dynasty was officially dead.
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