"The first order," I said into the encrypted phone line, my voice entirely devoid of emotion as the baby nursed softly against my chest, "is to execute the immediate breach clause of the Vance-Carlyle Family Irrevocable Asset Trust

Forty-eight hours after the birth of Victoria, I made my first public appearance.

The emergency shareholder meeting of Vance Holdings was convened on the top floor of the Carlyle Tower on Wall Street. The room was packed with billionaire investors, major venture capitalists, and the entire board of directors. Sitting at the far end of the room, looking haggard, desperate, and wearing an ill-fitting off-the-rack suit he had managed to buy with borrowed cash, was Julian.

He looked up as the heavy oak doors opened.

I walked into the boardroom, wearing a tailored navy coat, my hair swept up in a sleek bun. I looked healthy, radiant, and entirely unbothered by the childbirth I had experienced two days prior. Behind me walked four Carlyle family attorneys carrying thick leather binders.

Julian stood up immediately, his hands trembling as he pointed at me across the glossy mahogany table. "Clare! This has gone far enough! You cannot strip my voting shares over a private marital dispute! The board will never approve this hostile liquidation!"

I didn't even look at him as I took my seat at the head of the conference table—the seat that had remained vacant since my father’s death.

"This is not a private marital dispute, Mr. Vance," I said, my voice smooth, quiet, and possessing a weight that made the entire room instantly fall silent. "This is a corporate audit."

I gestured to Khloe, who opened the first binder and projected a series of bank statements onto the massive wall screen.

"Over the past three years," I announced calmly, "under Julian Vance's tenure as CEO, over forty-five million dollars in corporate assets were funneled into shell companies registered in the Cayman Islands under the name 'Sun Legacy Limited'—managed exclusively by Miss Mia Sun."

The board members gasped, whispering frantically among themselves. Several senior directors glared at Julian with pure disgust.

"I didn't authorize those transfers without board approval!" Julian stammered, his face pale as paper. "The financial committee signed off on those R&D investments!"

"The financial committee signed off on investments in a medical technology firm," I corrected, clicking to the next slide, which displayed the property deed of Mia’s luxury Soho penthouse, two superyachts docked in Miami, and a private jet lease. "They did not sign off on funding your mistress's lifestyle and securing an unauthorized trust fund for your illegitimate child."

"He's my son!" Julian shouted, slamming his hand onto the table. "He carries the Vance bloodline! The Carlyle-Vance agreement explicitly states that the male heir retains primary management control!"

I leaned forward slightly, resting my chin on my interlocked fingers, looking at him with a look of soft, agonizing pity.