Chapter 7 - Reckoning at the Boardroom
The boardroom on the 50th floor of the Russo Tower was suffocatingly tense.
The twenty members of the board sat around a massive mahogany table, their faces grim. On one side of the room sat Victoria Harlow, her mother Eleanor, and a team of high-priced attorneys, looking smug and victorious. Victoria was practically vibrating with excitement, holding a manila folder containing my real life story.
The doors swung open, and Adrian and I walked in.
I was no longer wearing the midnight power suit or the emerald gown. Today, I wore a beautifully tailored, cream-colored wool dress that hugged my body perfectly, paired with the diamond necklace Adrian had given me on my first night. I didn't look like a woman running from a scandal; I looked like a woman coming to collect a debt.
"Ah, the lovebirds have arrived," Victoria sneered, standing up. "Members of the board, thank you for convening. Before we begin, I would like to introduce the NYPD white-collar crime detectives who are waiting in the lobby."
"Sit down, Victoria," Adrian said calmly, taking his seat at the head of the table. I sat right beside him, crossing my legs with total composure.
"I will not sit down!" Victoria shouted, tossing the manila folder onto the center of the table. "Adrian Russo has defrauded this board! The woman sitting beside him is not Sophia Vance. Her name is Sophia Callahan. She is a broke, plus-size waitress from Queens who was serving drinks at my wedding four weeks ago! Here are her tax returns, her employment records, and an affidavit from her own brother!"
The board members exploded into a frenzy of murmurs and shocked gasps. The chairman of the board looked at Adrian, his expression grave. "Adrian... is this true? Is this woman an imposter?"
Adrian slowly leaned back in his chair, interlocking his fingers. "I will let our chief counsel answer that."
Julian stood up, opening his own leather briefcase. He distributed copies of a thick legal document to every board member, including a copy that he threw directly in front of Victoria.
"What is this?" Victoria demanded, her eyes scanning the pages.
"That," Julian said, his voice echoing in the boardroom, "is the certified, state-authenticated genetic and genealogical report filed with the New York Probate Court at eight o'clock this morning. It proves, via DNA matching with the late Sophia Vance’s stored medical records, that the woman sitting before you, Sophia Callahan-Vance, is the sole surviving blood relative and legal heir to the Rosewood Trust."
Victoria's face turned ash-white. "No... no, that's a lie! You forged it! She was a waitress!"
"She worked at a catering company because her mother’s family was estranged from the Vance estate," I spoke up, my voice calm, clear, and utterly devastating. I looked Victoria dead in the eyes. "I lived a hard life, Victoria. I know what it means to work for a living. I know what it means to be judged for my size, my wealth, and my status by small, miserable people like you. But my blood is real. My inheritance is real. And as of nine o'clock this morning, the Rosewood Trust has officially assumed full execution of its forty percent stake in the Russo Group."
Eleanor Harlow grabbed the documents, her hands shaking as she read the legal stamps. "It's... it's real. My God, Victoria, it's real. She's Charles Vance’s granddaughter."
"And as my first official act as the primary shareholder of the Russo Group," I continued, leaning forward and resting my elbows on the table, "I am denying the Harlow Group's request for a credit line extension. Furthermore, I am calling in all outstanding loans our bank currently holds against your family’s estate. You have thirty days to pay us forty-two million dollars, or we will foreclose on Grayhaven Estate."
May you like
Victoria fell back into her chair, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Her dream of a perfect, wealthy life was dissolving into ash right before her eyes.
"And one last thing," Adrian added, standing up and pulling a small velvet box from his pocket. He slid a massive emerald-cut diamond ring onto my finger, kissing the back of my hand in front of the entire room. "You are all invited to our wedding next month. Though I assure you, Victoria... the catering will be far better than yours."
