Chapter 8 - UNRAVELING THE EMPIRE
While Lena rested in the luxurious master suite under the watchful care of Mrs. Gable, Vincent Moretti sat in his private walnut-paneled study on the estate's top floor. Before him sat a dossier containing every financial record, tax return, and corporate file belonging to Marcus Vance.
"Talk to me, Dante," Vincent said into his encrypted desk phone.
"It's done, Boss," Dante’s voice crackled through the speaker. "Vance’s corporate accounts have been frozen. We bought out his firm's primary debt holders within the hour. By morning, he won't just be broke; he'll be facing federal indictments for embezzling from his own company's pension funds. We planted the paper trail legally and irreversibly."
Vincent leaned back in his leather chair, tapping a gold pen against the dark wood. "And his personal assets?"
"Every car, every bank account, every luxury watch—seized under legal liens. The apartment lease is terminated. By sunrise, he'll be evicted with nothing but the clothes on his back."
"Good," Vincent replied, his voice devoid of pity. "Make sure he knows who did it. Let him wander the streets of New York as a beggar, knowing that his arrogance and cruelty stripped him of everything he ever owned."
"Understood, Boss. What about Lena?"
Vincent paused, looking out the floor-to-ceiling window toward the east wing where Lena was sleeping. A strange, unfamiliar warmth stirred in his chest—a protective instinct he hadn't felt since the tragic death of his own sister years ago.
"She stays here," Vincent commanded firmly. "Double the perimeter security. No one enters or leaves without my direct authorization. She is under my personal protection."
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"Consider it done, Vincent."
Vincent hung up the phone and walked over to the window. The rain had stopped, and the first pale streaks of dawn were breaking over the New York skyline. The city was waking up, unaware of the silent storm that had just reshaped its underworld. Marcus Vance's reign of terror was over, and a new, unbreakable chapter was just beginning.
