Chapter 3 - The Unraveling of an Empire
By Monday morning, the financial and social fallout of the aborted Rosewood Manor wedding had completely eclipsed every headline in the country.
The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and every tabloid from Manhattan to Los Angeles ran front-page spreads detailing the multi-billion-dollar corporate espionage plot uncovered by a three-year-old girl and her housekeeper mother. Marcus Vance had been apprehended by federal agents at JFK Airport attempting to board a one-way flight to Zurich with four million dollars in bearer bonds. Genevieve Prescott had locked herself inside her family’s Upper East Side penthouse, dodging subpoenas and facing federal wire fraud and conspiracy charges.
Inside the executive boardroom on the eightieth floor of Ward Technologies in downtown Chicago, the atmosphere was a study in intense, controlled focus.
Alex Ward sat at the head of the massive, glass-topped conference table. He wore a dark navy suit, his sleeves rolled up slightly, staring at a comprehensive forensic audit displayed on the digital wall screen. Julian Pearce sat to his right, while a team of corporate investigators briefed them on the depth of Genevieve’s infiltration.
"It goes back nine months, Alex," Julian explained, sliding a thick dossier across the table. "She didn't just target your personal trust; she was working with a rival venture capital firm out of London to siphon proprietary AI algorithms from our R&D division. If you had signed those marriage certificates on Saturday, the marital property laws would have given her controlling voting shares within six months."
Alex’s jaw tightened. A cold anger flickered deep within his dark eyes. He had spent his entire life building a fortress of security, insulating himself from betrayal, believing he was too smart to be manipulated. And yet, he had nearly walked straight into a gilded trap because he had ignored the quiet, persistent warnings of his own intuition.
"And the Herrera family?" Alex asked, his voice cutting through the murmurs of the room. "Where are they?"
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Julian paused, a slight, knowing smile touching the corner of his mouth. "They’re still in the staff quarters at Rosewood Manor. You gave strict orders that no one was to disturb them, but Mrs. Croft reports that Lucia has packed all their belongings twice, ready to flee out of fear that you’d hold her responsible for the chaos."
Alex stood up abruptly, buttoning his jacket. "Cancel the afternoon meetings. I’m going back to the estate."
