Chapter 29 - The Auditor’s Report
The final audit report of Vance Holdings landed on my desk in the Peoria executive suite on the morning of December 31st—New Year’s Eve.
Sarah sat across from me, sipping black coffee and scrolling through the final asset distribution schedules on her tablet. The numbers were staggering: over twelve million dollars in liquid capital recovered from hidden offshore accounts, commercial real estate portfolios successfully restructured, and every predatory loan tied to local family farms completely erased and refunded with statutory damages.
"It’s official, Clara," Sarah said, looking up with a triumphant grin. "The forensic audit is complete. Vance Holdings is legally extinct, and its successor entity—the Knox-Peoria Agricultural Trust—is fully capitalized and operating under your sole directorship. You are officially one of the most influential agricultural executives in the Midwest."
I closed the heavy leather binder, leaning back in the executive leather chair that Eleanor Vance had once used to intimidate everyone who crossed her path.
"How are Richard and Eleanor handling the final eviction?" I asked, looking out the floor-to-ceiling window at the snowy Peoria skyline.
"Not well," Sarah chuckled, tapping her tablet screen. "Eleanor tried to file an emergency injunction in a state court yesterday, claiming diplomatic immunity or some archaic property right, but the judge threatened her with contempt before she even finished her opening statement. They’re currently staying in that fleabag motel off I-74, living off whatever cheap takeout they can afford with the last few hundred dollars of un-seized cash Richard managed to hide in his gym bag."
"Karma has a way of balancing the books," I murmured.
"Speaking of balancing books," Sarah said, closing her tablet and leaning forward, her expression turning serious. "What are your plans for tonight? The annual Peoria New Year’s Eve Gala is happening downstairs in the grand ballroom—the very event Eleanor used to host every year to show off her high-society friends."
I smiled, a slow, knowing smile that carried all the weight of the past five years.
May you like
"I think," I said, standing up and smoothing down the lapels of my tailored wool blazer, "it’s time we went down to the ballroom. Not as guests, but as the owners of the building."
***
