Chapter 10 - The Alliance of the Dispossessed
Before Lucía could answer, the sharp ring of a mobile phone shattered the fragile intimacy of the nursery.
Mateo sighed, stepping back as Lucía pulled her phone from her blazer pocket. The screen flashed with Victor Sterling’s caller ID. She swiped to answer, pressing the phone to her ear.
"Lucía," Victor’s voice came through, brisk and urgent. "You need to get down to the corporate office immediately. Julian’s legal team just filed an emergency injunction, trying to freeze the transfer of voting shares based on a technicality in the probate clause. They’re trying to buy time to liquidate overseas assets."
"I'm on my way," Lucía replied sharply, her professional persona snapping back into focus instantly. "Call the legal team. Have them ready to counter with Section 4 of the emergency fraud statute. They won't find a loophole if we shut the door completely."
She hung up and looked at Mateo. The softness in her eyes was gone, replaced once again by the fierce, unyielding resolve of a woman who refused to be defeated twice.
"You heard him," Lucía said, turning toward the door.
"I'm coming with you," Mateo said firmly, stepping into her path.
Lucía paused, raising an eyebrow. "You want to help me dismantle your brother’s remaining legal defenses? That’s your family, Mateo."
"Julian stopped being my brother the moment I saw what he and my mother did to you—to us," Mateo corrected, his jaw set with a new, hardened determination. "If I’m going to carry the Sterling name into the future, I’m going to make sure it stands for accountability, not corruption. Let’s go to work, CEO Sterling."
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A rare, genuine smile touched Lucía’s lips—a smile that held no bitterness, no vengeance, only a fierce, shared strength.
"Let's go," she said.
