Chapter 20 - The Unfinished Page
Two weeks later, the foundation’s legal team sent over a confidential dossier regarding the final asset liquidation of Vance Holding Corp.
I sat at my desk late at night, reviewing the financial statements. Every debt had been settled, every offshore account frozen by federal regulators, and every trace of my family's corporate legacy had been legally dismantled and redistributed to those who actually needed it.
My phone rang with an unknown, restricted caller ID.
I stared at the screen for a moment before swiping to answer and bringing the phone to my ear.
"Rachel Vance," I said neutrally.
There was heavy breathing on the other end of the line. For several seconds, no one spoke. Then, a voice whispered—a voice that sounded old, broken, and filled with a chilling, desperate malice.
"You think you’re safe behind your little gates, Rachel," Eleanor’s voice hissed softly through the receiver. "You think you’ve won the war. But dynasties don't just die because you burn the castle down. We know things about your past... secrets you thought were buried deep."
My grip tightened slightly around the phone, my eyes narrowing as a cold chill ran down my spine.
"Who gave you this number?" I asked, my voice dropping into a sharp, dangerous register.
Eleanor let out a dry, rattling laugh that sounded like dry leaves scraping across concrete.
"You think your little agency, your nice house, and your little security system protect you from real power?" she whispered, her voice sending a shiver through the quiet room. "Enjoy your little game while it lasts, my dear. Because the people who are coming for you next... don't care about your money at all."
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Before I could answer, the line went dead with a sharp click.
I lowered the phone slowly, staring out the window into the dark, silent night where the streetlights flickered against the falling snow, wondering with a sudden, sinking dread who exactly my mother had just unleashed.
