“I have a few questions regarding the contractors who are currently facing bankruptcy and lawsuits,” I said while opening my files. Silas stiffened as I pointed out that the land was valued at three thousand dollars less than what he reported.
“Where is the extra one hundred and fifty million dollars going, Mr. Vance?” I asked coldly while the room fell into a deathly silence. Silas began to sweat and stammered about appraisals, but I didn’t let him finish his lies.
I revealed that he directed the appraisal department himself and that his projected returns were mathematically impossible. The board members shifted from disdain to absolute respect as they realized I was not a puppet but a lethal adversary.
By noon, the news of Silas’s defeat had spread through the building and the employees looked at me with newfound admiration. My secretary informed me that a man named Gavin was in the lobby claiming to be my family.
I told her to have him wait in the busiest part of the lobby because I wanted everyone to see this encounter. I went down the executive elevator and saw Gavin standing there with a cheap bouquet of roses and tattered clothes.
“Audrey, or Serena, I am so sorry about everything because Penelope seduced me and I lost my mind,” Gavin pleaded while dropping to his knees. The employees watched in shock as the man who had insulted me days ago begged for another chance.
I didn’t argue but instead had my security guard connect an audio file to the lobby speakers for everyone to hear. It was a recording of Gavin and Penelope laughing about how they were going to squeeze every cent out of the “country idiot.”
The lobby went silent as Gavin’s own words exposed his true nature to the world. “You remember those words, right? Now get out because you are not welcome here,” I said with a frozen stare.
Security dragged him out like a sack of garbage while he babbled in humiliation, and I finally felt a sense of liberation. However, that night I found a note on my car in the parking garage written in blood red ink.
“This is only the beginning. Know your place and leave,” the note said, and a cold shiver ran down my spine. I realized my enemies weren’t just in the boardroom but were willing to use physical threats to stop me.
Mr. Jenkins arranged for bodyguards to escort me to the Charleston Business Summit where I was supposed to make my official debut. I wore a sophisticated blue silk dress but felt suffocated by the judgmental whispers of the high society women.
A girl with curled hair deliberately spilled red wine on my sleeve and mocked my small town roots. “I thought a Sterling would at least know how to walk in a ballroom,” she sneered until a deep voice interrupted her.
“I find Miss Sterling much more elegant than those who hide their emptiness with luxury brands,” a tall man in a black suit said. He wiped the wine from my sleeve with a white handkerchief, causing the bullies to flee in embarrassment.
I looked up and felt a strange sense of familiarity when I saw his face. “I am Julian Reed, and I believe we were neighbors when we were children before the tragedy,” he said with a gentle smile.
Julian was now the president of TechVantage, a powerful competitor to the Solara Group, but he seemed genuinely concerned for me. He warned me that not everyone who smiled was a friend and handed me his card before disappearing into the crowd.
