Chapter 8 - The Vance Alliance
Three days later.
Serena sat in the private dining suite of the St. Regis Hotel, enjoying a quiet lunch with Harrison Vance and his son, Zachary.
Harrison raised his glass of sparkling water toward Serena with immense respect.
“Ms. Sterling,” Harrison said warmly. “I owe you a profound debt of gratitude. If you hadn’t taken the stage at Pine Valley, my son would have married into a family of toxic, parasitic fraudsters.”
Zachary nodded solemnly. “Serena, I’m deeply sorry for what my ex-fiancée and her mother did to Toby. I was completely blind to who they really were.”
“You don’t need to apologize, Zachary,” Serena replied, taking a delicate sip of her tea. “They were professional actors. They spent six years convincing me they were respectable people, too.”
“Well, the play is over,” Harrison smiled grimly. “My real estate firm has officially severed all commercial ties with any entity connected to Justin or his associates. In fact, we’ve just finalized a deal to partner with Vanguard Logistics on our new forty-million-dollar downtown distribution hub.”
Serena smiled. “A wise business decision, Harrison. My team has already cleared the permits.”
At that moment, Arthur Sterling entered the private dining room, carrying a fresh court filing.
“Serena,” Arthur said, setting the papers on the table. “The family court judge just signed the final emergency custody order. Justin’s parental rights have been temporarily suspended pending his criminal trial for corporate embezzlement.”
“And Giselle?” Serena asked.
“Her bail was set at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars,” Arthur replied with a satisfied smirk. “Since Justin’s accounts are frozen and Felicia doesn’t have a single cent to her name, Giselle couldn’t pay the ten percent bond. She is currently sitting in a holding cell at the county jail.”
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Zachary let out a quiet, appreciative laugh. “From a six-hundred-thousand-dollar luxury wedding to a county jail cell in less than seventy-two hours. That has to be a record.”
“She earned every second of it,” Serena said, her voice completely firm.
