Chapter 2 - The Debt Behind the Vance Empire
The news spread through the estate before Genevieve even reached the front entrance.
Guests whispered.
Phones appeared.
Photographers began taking pictures.
The canceled wedding had instantly become a financial scandal.
But Genevieve didn't care.
She walked through the mansion as if she had owned it for years.
Because technically, she did.
Ethan followed several steps behind.
“Chairwoman.”
She didn't stop.
“Genevieve.”
He corrected himself.
She finally turned.
“That is better.”
“I owe you an explanation.”
“You owe your company an explanation.”
Ethan winced.
“You're right.”
They entered the private library.
Genevieve closed the doors.
For the first time, Ethan looked less like a powerful CEO and more like a frightened son.
“My mother doesn't know what happened.”
“She knows enough.”
“No.”
Ethan shook his head.
“She doesn't know why Consecour Capital invested in us.”
Genevieve's expression softened slightly.
“Then tell me.”
Ethan sat down.
“Three years ago, my father died.”
Genevieve listened.
“He left the company with billions in assets but enormous liabilities.”
“I know.”
“My mother wanted to sell.”
“And you refused.”
“I believed I could save it.”
Genevieve nodded.
“That was why I chose you.”
Ethan looked up.
“You knew me?”
“I studied every executive before investing.”
“And you still invested?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your business plan was brilliant.”
She paused.
“And because your employees respected you.”
Ethan lowered his eyes.
“But I made mistakes.”
“You did.”
“Many.”
“Yes.”
He smiled bitterly.
“You're not going to make this easy, are you?”
“No.”
A long silence followed.
Then Ethan whispered:
“I never wanted Chloe.”
Genevieve raised an eyebrow.
“That isn't my concern.”
“My mother arranged it.”
“That is your concern.”
“She said Chloe's family could help stabilize our public image.”
Genevieve stared at him.
“And you agreed.”
“I thought I could make it work.”
“You couldn't.”
“No.”
Genevieve walked toward the window.
Outside, wedding guests were leaving.
Luxury cars disappeared through the gates.
Flowers were being carried away.
An entire celebration had collapsed in less than an hour.
“Ethan.”
“Yes?”
“Your company isn't dying because of today's wedding.”
He looked at her.
“It has been dying for months.”
His face tightened.
“What do you mean?”
“I found three shell companies receiving Vance Group payments.”
Ethan stood.
“What?”
Genevieve opened another folder.
“Approximately twenty-seven million dollars.”
Ethan stared at the documents.
“I didn't authorize these.”
“I know.”
“Then who did?”
Genevieve looked at him.
“That is what you need to discover.”
Ethan's face became pale.
“My mother?”
“I didn't say that.”
“But you think it.”
“I think evidence is more useful than suspicion.”
Ethan slowly sat down.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Chloe was tearing apart her bridal suite.
“How dare she!”
Victoria stood near the window.
“Stop.”
“My wedding is ruined!”
“Stop!”
Victoria's voice finally silenced her.
She turned.
“You don't understand what just happened.”
Chloe wiped tears from her face.
“She humiliated me.”
“No.”
Victoria's voice trembled.
“She humiliated us.”
Chloe frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Victoria looked toward the window.
“The Vance Group owes Consecour Capital hundreds of millions.”
Chloe froze.
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“And she controls the debt?”
“Most of it.”
Chloe's breathing became shallow.
“Then we have to fix this.”
Victoria turned.
“How?”
Chloe's expression changed.
The tears disappeared.
“We find out what she wants.”
Victoria stared at her daughter-in-law.
“Genevieve doesn't want money.”
“Everyone wants something.”
“Not her.”
Chloe smiled coldly.
“Then we'll find her weakness.”
That night, Genevieve stood alone in the mansion's master bedroom.
She removed her earrings.
For a moment, she looked exhausted.
The powerful chairwoman disappeared.
In the mirror stood an older woman carrying memories she rarely allowed herself to remember.
Years earlier, Genevieve had been a young mother struggling to keep a small company alive.
Her husband had betrayed her.
Her investors had abandoned her.
And her own family had laughed when she lost everything.
She had rebuilt herself from nothing.
She had promised herself one thing:
Never again would she judge a person's worth by their clothes.
That was why she had disguised herself.
That was why she had watched.
And that was why the Vance family had failed her test.
But there was another reason she had chosen Ethan.
One she had never told him.
She opened a drawer.
Inside was an old photograph.
A little boy stood beside a younger Genevieve.
The boy was about ten years old.
His face was unmistakable.
It was Ethan.
Genevieve touched the photograph.
“Your father asked me to protect you.”
She whispered.
“I promised him I would.”
Then her phone rang.
“Chairwoman?”
“Yes?”
“We found something.”
“What?”
“The money from those shell companies.”
Genevieve's expression hardened.
“Where did it go?”
There was a pause.
“Offshore.”
“Whose account?”
Another pause.
Then:
“Victoria Vance.”
Genevieve closed her eyes.
The woman who had humiliated her was not merely cruel.
May you like
She might be stealing from her own son.
And suddenly, the canceled wedding was no longer the biggest problem in the Vance family.
