Chapter 5 - THE FIRST DOMINO FALLS
Daniel was sweating, his tuxedo collar unbuttoned, his hair disheveled as he argued with the two massive security
guards blocking the entrance to the private wing.
“I have a right to see my daughter!” Daniel yelled, his hands shaking. “You can’t keep me out!”
“He can’t, but I can,” a cold voice boomed.
Daniel spun around to see Arthur Vance walking toward him. The sheer authority radiating from the older man
made Daniel instinctively take a step back.
“Arthur... Mr. Vance,” Daniel stammered, holding his hands up in a defensive gesture. “Please. There’s been a
massive mistake. My mother and sister... they didn’t know. We didn’t know! If Clara had just told us who you were
—”
“If she had told you, you would have treated her with respect?” Arthur interrupted, his voice dripping with
disgust. “So your respect is bought, Daniel? You only treat women with dignity if they carry a multi-billion-dollar
price tag?”
“No! That’s not what I meant!” Daniel cried, tears of desperation forming in his eyes. “I love Clara. I was
just... I was shocked. I didn't know how to handle my mother. Please, let me see my daughter.”
“Your daughter?” Arthur sneered. “You forfeited your right to be a father the second you turned your back
while your family stripped and humiliated your pregnant wife in front of two hundred people. You are nothing to
her now.”
Before Daniel could respond, his phone began to buzz violently in his pocket. Then, it buzzed again. And
again.
Trembling, Daniel pulled out his phone. The screen was flooded with urgent notifications and missed calls
from his father, the CFO of Sterling Enterprises, and their lead legal counsel.
He answered the call from his father, his voice shaking. “Dad? What's going on?”
His father’s voice was panicked, practically screaming through the receiver. “Daniel! Where the hell are
you?! We’ve just been notified that Vance Holdings has called in our fifty-million-dollar construction loan! They’re
demanding full payment by tomorrow morning! And that’s not all... the city just suspended our building permits for
the waterfront project! We’re bleeding millions by the hour!”
Daniel stared at Arthur in sheer horror. The older man stood there, perfectly calm, his hands clasped behind his
back.
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“This is just the first hour, Daniel,” Arthur said softly. “By this time tomorrow, your family will realize that
May you like
some people are too expensive to cross.”
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