Chapter 8 - The Contract in the VaultWithin an hour, the grand ballroom was empty, save for the caterers silently packing away untouched champagne bottles, Arthur Vance, Adrian, and me. The air smelled of stale lilies and expensive perfume.
Vance walked over, handing Adrian a thick brass key and a velvet-lined case containing a flash drive. “The physical servers at Mercer Manufacturing have been sealed, Mr. Sterling. The forensic team verified that Claire’s original source code was intact in the legacy partition, along with the audit trail proving Vanessa’s manual overrides.”
“Thank you, Arthur,” Adrian said. “Proceed with the liquidation of the non-core assets. Prioritize paying off the severance packages for the low-level employees who had no knowledge of Richard’s fraud.”
“Understood, sir.” Vance bowed slightly to me. “Congratulations on your marriage, Mrs. Sterling.”
The title felt strange, heavy, yet remarkably fitting. Mrs. Sterling.
When Vance left, Adrian turned to me. The harsh, calculating light in his eyes vanished, replaced by a deep, quiet warmth. He took both of my hands in his.
“Are you alright?” he asked softly.
May you like
I looked down at our joined hands, then up into his dark eyes. “For thirty years, I thought if I just worked harder, if I just proved my value, they would eventually see me. But they never saw me. They only saw what they could take.”
“They were blind, Claire,” Adrian said gently. “You were always the foundation. They were just parasites living in the house you built.”
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