The True Heir Speaks

Arthur Vance: Under the original charter, voting control reverts immediately to the sole biological descendant: Maya Sterling.

Victoria gripped the edge of the conference table until her knuckles turned snow white.

Victoria: She has never managed a company! She serves pancakes at a diner on forty-second street!

Maya: I have a bachelor's degree in business accounting from Northwestern, Victoria. The only reason I served pancakes was because you froze my bank accounts after Dad went into hospice.

Julian: Mom, did you freeze her student loan assistance fund too?

Victoria didn't answer. Her eyes remained locked on the papers in front of Arthur Vance.

Maya: She told the university bursar that Dad withdrew his sponsorship before he died. I had to drop out of my master's program.

Julian looked down at his mother with utter disbelief and profound shame.

Julian: You lied to me about everything. You told me Maya took fifty thousand dollars in cash from Dad's home safe and ran away.

Maya: I left that house with one duffel bag containing my clothes and Dad's high school graduation photo.

Arthur Vance: There is another matter, Victoria. The state district attorney's office received a duplicate copy of this forensic packet at nine o'clock this morning.

The color in Victoria's cheeks vanished completely, replaced by pure terror.

Victoria: You went to the state prosecutor? Without offering a corporate settlement first?

Arthur Vance: This is not a civil contract disagreement, Victoria. Embezzlement from an incapacitated patient's medical trust carries mandatory prison time.

A soft knock came at the boardroom door, followed by two uniformed Chicago police officers stepping inside.

Officer Miller: Victoria Sterling? We have a warrant for your arrest regarding financial exploitation and corporate fraud.

Victoria: Julian, call our defense lawyer! Tell him to file an immediate emergency injunction!

Julian stood still, his hands resting on the back of his chair, staring at the floor.

Julian: I'm not calling anyone for you, Mom. You destroyed Dad's life, and you almost destroyed mine.

Victoria: You ungrateful boy! I built an empire for you!

Officer Miller stepped forward, clicking a pair of stainless steel handcuffs into place around Victoria's wrists.

Officer Miller: You have the right to remain silent, ma'am. Anything you say can and will be used against you.

Maya watched in silence as the officers escorted her stepmother down the carpeted hallway toward the elevators.