AFTER THE DIVORCE, SHE FOUND OUT I'M A TRILLIONAIRE

Chapter 2: The Twelve Billion Dollar Collapse

Inside the grand ballroom, the party guests were still laughing and drinking, entirely oblivious to what was happening out in the lobby.

Julian Sterling stood near the main cake table, swirling a glass of scotch and smirking at Chloe.

"See, Chloe?" Julian said, placing a comforting hand on her back. "You made the right choice. A useless parasite like Ethan would have only dragged you down into the mud. Now that he's gone, the Vance family can finally rise to the top of the province."

Brenda smiled brightly, fanning her face with her diamond-encrusted hand. "Julian is absolutely right, Chloe! Tonight is a double celebration! We got rid of the trash, and we secured a ten-million-dollar loan from the Sterling Group! Tomorrow, I'm buying that new diamond necklace I saw in the downtown catalog!"

Chloe looked down at her champagne glass. The fifty-dollar silver ring sat heavy at the bottom. For some strange reason, an uneasy, cold knot was twisting deep inside her chest.

Why was Ethan so calm? she thought to herself. He didn't scream. He didn't cry. He signed the papers in two seconds as if... as if our three years together meant nothing to him.

"Chloe, don't waste another thought on him," Julian chuckled, taking a sip of his drink. "A house-husband without a family, without money, and without connections is nothing in this city. Within three days, he'll come crawling back to beg you for a plate of leftovers."

Suddenly, Julian’s custom gold iPhone in his jacket pocket began vibrating violently.

RING! RING! RING!

Julian pulled out the phone, glanced at the caller ID, and sneered. "Ah, it's my father's chief financial officer calling from the Sterling Group headquarters. He's probably calling to confirm that our joint venture was approved."

Julian tapped the screen, switching the phone to speaker mode so Brenda and Chloe could hear.

"Director Miller!" Julian said arrogantly into the microphone. "I assume the ten-million-dollar credit transfer to the Vance Corporation is complete?"

A loud, terrified scream erupted from the phone speaker, so frantic and piercing that it shattered the peaceful atmosphere of the ballroom:

"YOUNG MASTER JULIAN! STOP EVERYTHING! WE ARE RUINED! WE ARE COMPLETELY FINISHED!"

Julian froze, his arrogant smile stiffening on his face. "Miller? What nonsense are you blabbering about?! Speak clearly!"

"TEN SECONDS AGO, THE SOVEREIGN SYNDICATE ISSUED A GLOBAL BLACKLIST AGAINST THE STERLING GROUP!" Director Miller shrieked, his voice raw with pure terror. "THEY CANCELED OUR TWELVE BILLION DOLLAR CREDIT LINE INSTANTLY! EVERY BANK IN THE COUNTRY HAS FROZEN OUR ACCOUNTS! OUR STOCK HAS DROPPED NINETY-NINE PERCENT ON THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET!"

CLINK.

Julian’s glass of scotch slipped out of his numb fingers, smashing into pieces against the polished marble floor.

"W-What did you say?!" Julian stammered, his face draining of all color until it was completely white. "Twelve billion... canceled?! How is that possible?! My grandfather is a close friend of the Syndicate's regional directors!"

"IT WASN'T A REGIONAL DIRECTOR!" Miller sobbed uncontrollably through the speaker. "THE SYSTEM CLEARANCE CAME DIRECTLY FROM THE TOP! THE SOVEREIGN LORD HIMSELF AUTHORIZED THE BLACKLIST! HE DECLARED THE STERLING FAMILY BANKRUPT BEFORE SUNSET!"

The entire ballroom went dead silent.

The music stopped. The guests dropped their forks and glasses, staring at Julian in absolute, horrified disbelief.

"Bankrupt...?" Brenda gasped, clutching her heavy gold necklace so hard her nails dug into her skin. "Tw-Twelve billion dollars... gone in ten seconds?!"

Before Julian could process the news, the grand double doors of the ballroom slammed open again with a loud, echoing bang.

CRASH!

Scarlett walked into the room. She wore a sharp, custom-tailored red power suit that accentuated her tall, martial frame. Her dark hair was tied back in a tight, professional bun, and her eyes were as sharp and deadly as razor blades. Behind her marched four tall security officers carrying thick leather document briefcases.

The crowd instinctively parted for her, trembling under the cold, lethal pressure radiating from her every step.

"Who are you?!" Julian demanded, trying to hide his shaking hands by pulling at his suit sleeves. "This is a private Vance family event! You can't just barge in here!"

Scarlett didn't even look at Julian. She stopped ten feet away from Chloe and Brenda, opening a silver digital tablet in her hand.

"By order of the Sovereign Syndicate," Scarlett announced, her clear, crisp voice carrying across the entire silent hall, "all secret funding, hidden corporate subsidies, and emergency credit guarantees provided to the Vance family over the past three years are hereby revoked immediately."

Brenda’s eyes went wide as saucers. She rushed forward, nearly tripping over her own long gown. "What secret funding?! What are you talking about?! We don't owe the Sovereign Syndicate a single penny!"

Scarlett looked at Brenda with pure, unadulterated contempt.

"Three years ago, the Vance Corporation was on the brink of complete bankruptcy with eighty million dollars in debt," Scarlett said coldly, tapping her tablet screen. "A secret global trust fund injected thirty million dollars every six months into your family's account under the condition that Ethan Rhys lived in your house."

Chloe gasped, taking two steps back as her mind reeled. "Ethan... Ethan's trust fund?"

"You foolish, arrogant people thought your family survived on your own business skills?" Scarlett sneered, her voice dropping like an anvil. "You survived because the Sovereign Lord permitted you to survive. Every meal you ate, every designer dress you bought, and every business deal you signed was paid for by the man you forced to sweep your floors!"

Brenda’s phone on the table suddenly buzzed with five frantic text messages and incoming calls. She picked it up with shaking, sweaty fingers and pressed it to her ear.

"Mrs. Vance!" her company treasurer screamed from the other end. "The bank just called! Our thirty-million-dollar operating loan was just revoked! The tax authorities are locking our offices! We are bankrupt! The Vance Corporation is dead!"

"NO! NOOO!" Brenda shrieked, dropping her phone onto the floor.

She turned toward Scarlett, her face twisted in hysterical, ugly panic. "You're lying! You're framing us! Elder Vance! Where is Elder Vance?!"

Suddenly, Duke Vance walked slowly through the ballroom doors, leaning on his ebony walking stick.

Brenda saw him and practically threw herself onto her knees, crawling across the carpet toward his shoes.

"Elder Vance! Save us!" Brenda wailed, grabbing at the hem of his trousers with dirty, trembling hands. "Some crazy woman in red is trying to destroy our company! Tell her to stop! Tell her who we are!"

Duke Vance looked down at her as if looking at a piece of rotten garbage on the sidewalk.

Without saying a word, he lifted his ebony walking stick and struck Brenda’s grasping hand away with a sharp CRACK.

"AHHH!" Brenda screamed, clutching her bruised fingers and pulling back into a heap on the floor.

"Useless, blind hag!" Duke Vance growled, his deep voice echoing through the vaulted ceiling like rolling thunder. "For three years, the Sovereign Lord lived under your roof to honor his late father's promise! You had the greatest fortune in the world sitting right in front of you, yet you treated him like trash and forced him to wash your dishes!"

Duke Vance looked out over the frozen crowd of wealthy guests, his eyes burning with intense authority.

"Hear my words!" Duke Vance proclaimed loudly. "As of this moment, the Vance family and the Sterling family are officially blacklisted by the Sovereign Syndicate! Anyone in this city who lends them a single dollar, hires them, or gives them shelter will be treated as an enemy of the Sovereign Lord!"

The wealthy guests inside the ballroom gasped in terror, immediately taking three steps away from Chloe, Brenda, and Julian as if they carried a deadly plague.

Julian collapsed onto his knees beside his ruined wine glass, staring at the floor in complete, hollow despair. His family’s multi-billion-dollar empire, built over three generations, had been obliterated in less than three minutes.

Chloe stood frozen in the center of the hall, her hands clutching her head. Her heart was beating so fast she felt like she was suffocating.

The Sovereign Lord...

Ethan was the Sovereign Lord...

Every insult she had hurled at him, every cold look she had given him, and every time she had demanded that he hurry up and finish the housework flashed through her mind like a terrifying nightmare. She had traded a ruler who controlled eighty trillion dollars for a bankrupt, ruined fraud!

"Ethan... Ethan!" Chloe screamed frantically, pushing past Scarlett and running toward the main doors of the hotel lobby. "ETHAN! WAIT FOR ME!"

She burst through the glass sliding doors out into the pouring rain, her high heels splashing violently in the puddles.

Down on the private driveway, six black Maybachs were already pulling away into the dark night, their red taillights flashing through the heavy storm.

Chloe ran down the marble steps into the rain, her beautiful silk dress getting completely soaked and covered in mud. She fell onto her knees on the wet asphalt, reaching out with shaking hands toward the disappearing motorcade.

"ETHAN!" Chloe wailed into the thunderous sky, her tears mixing with the freezing rain pouring down her face. "I WAS WRONG! ETHAN, PLEASE COME BACK! I'M STILL YOUR WIFE!"

Inside the lead Maybach, I sat in the luxurious, quiet leather cabin, looking out the tinted rear window.

Through the rain-streaked glass, I could see the tiny, ruined figure of Chloe Vance weeping on her knees in themud outside the hotel.

Scarlett sat in the front passenger seat, turning around to hand me a secure black satellite tablet.

"Young Master," Scarlett reported in a low, serious voice. "The Vance family and the Sterling Group have been completely dismantled in accordance with your orders. Their assets are currently being liquidated by our regional banking teams."

"Good," I said, my voice completely devoid of any emotion. I didn't look back at the hotel again. "What about my sister, Lily?"

Scarlett tapped the screen, opening a high-level classified dossier. A grainy satellite photo appeared on the display, showing a four-story luxury building in the Capital with heavy guards posted at every entrance.

"Four years ago, your sister was kidnapped by the Darkwood Syndicate," Scarlett explained, her tone going grave. "Our intelligence team in the Capital just confirmed her location ten minutes ago. She is currently being held inside the Sovereign Imperial Club."

I stared at the photo of the building, my right hand tightening around the black titanium card in my pocket.

"Prepare the private military jet," I commanded softly.

"Where are we going, Sire?" Scarlett asked.

I looked out the front windshield into the dark, stormy road ahead.

"To the Capital," I said, my voice dropping like a cold steel blade. "It's time to bring my sister home.”