Infinite Wealth: Revenge of the Lost Heir

CHAPTER 19: THE STORM BEHIND THE GOLDEN WALL

Inside the private office of the main Vance family residence, which was lined with gold-plated oak walls, the atmosphere felt so pressing that the dust floating in the air seemed to stop moving. Valerie Vance walked back and forth with stamping steps, ignoring the elegance of her emerald gown which now appeared crumpled. The motherly smile she had flaunted on the Diamond Gala Room stage a few hours ago had vanished without a trace, replaced by a highly dense line of anxiety.

"This is not a mere coincidence, Arthur! Someone is deliberately targeting me!" Valerie roared, her voice trembling, withholding anger as well as the fear that was beginning to gnaw at her composure.

Arthur Vance sat calmly behind his mahogany desk. The old man did not move even a bit, merely supporting his chin with both hands locked together. His pair of cloudy yet eagle-sharp eyes stared straight toward the small monitor screen displaying the transaction anomaly report from the Vault-07 server.

"That man in the black shirt... he knew the exact number," Valerie continued, pressing her quickly heaving chest. "He threw the five million dollar figure right when the gavel was about to be tapped! That was the maximum limit of the funds we had to clear tonight. As a result of his interruption, our entire transfer system is clogged and the federal tax authorities have begun sending automatic audit signals to my foundation!"

Ryan Vance, who sat on the leather sofa in the corner of the room, could only be stunned hearing his stepmother's complaint. Ryan's face, which was already pale initially due to the series of his personal problems together with Amber, now increasingly lost color.

"Wait... Mother was also attacked?" Ryan spoke, his voice sounding hoarse and parau in the midst of the room's silence. He straightened his body, staring at Valerie and Arthur alternately with a look of disbelief. "Amber's Swiss account problem, the internal video leak at the directors' meeting, my property project being hacked to destruction, the takeover of the Midtown restaurant by a mysterious investor, and now... Mother's auction stage is messed up by a person in a black shirt?"

Ryan gripped his own hair, his breath rushing shallowly along with the panic beginning to spread to all his nerve chords. "This is crazy. This is truly crazy! Problems upon us seem to come one after another in less than twenty-four hours! Father... what is actually happening to our family? Why does it seem as if someone knows all our weaknesses?"

Arthur Vance slowly lowered his hands from his chin. His highly calm movement instead radiated an aura of intimidation that made Valerie and Ryan instantly silenced. The old man tapped the surface of the desk with a slow and constant rhythm, creating a hollow tap echoing throughout the room's ceiling.

"Someone is skinning us," Arthur said, his voice sounding baritone, heavy, and without emotion, yet laden with a cold cruelty. "Someone who knows exactly where the jugular vein of our finances lies, knows how we move, and knows the deepest secrets of this family's private server."

Valerie held her breath, her beautiful face lined with expensive makeup turning pale suddenly. "Who, Arthur? Who possesses cyber capabilities that excellent in New York? The Blackwood Legal law firm even refused to provide the true identity of 'Mr. Black' who bought the restaurant and messed up my auction!"

Arthur did not directly answer. He shifted his gaze toward the large glass window displaying the glittering landscape of Manhattan city lights beneath the darkness of the night. Inside the old man's mind, the shadows of that bloody night in Long Island replayed again.

"There is only one person who possesses access and a revenge this large against us," Arthur whispered with a highly low voice, making Ryan's and Valerie's hairs on the back of their necks stand up instantly. "But... I myself ensured his body was destroyed at the bottom of the ravine that night."

A terrifying silence once again took over the luxury office. Inside the darkness enveloping the Vance dynasty, the seeds of fear toward the figure of the "ghost" from the past had now officially taken root and were prepared to tear apart their sandcastle from within.