THE HEIR'S REVENGE

chapter 19

Victoria laughed, but it sounded forced. "You think you've already won. But you don't know what I'm capable of. You don't know the connections I have, the power I can still wield."

"Your connections are abandoning you," I informed her. "Marcus is with the district attorney right now. Daniel is in a cell. You're alone, Victoria."

"I'm never alone," she said cryptically. "And neither are you. Watch your back, Ethan. Watch everyone you care about. This isn't over."

The line went dead.

Thomas immediately saved the recording to three different drives. "That's assault, threatening a minor, admission of embezzlement, and conspiracy. This alone could put her away for years."

"Send copies to the district attorney and the FBI," I instructed. "But keep one for our records."

Margaret was already on her phone with our night editor. "Run the story. Front page, digital edition goes live in one hour." She looked at me. "Are you sure you want to escalate this fast?"

"She just threatened Lily," I said, standing up. "We end this now."

The room became a hurricane of activity. David coordinated with our website team, preparing for the traffic surge that would come. Sarah started crafting social media posts, each one designed to maximum impact. Margaret worked with the writers, making sure every word was perfect and legally bulletproof.

My phone buzzed with a text from Brandon: "Got Victoria on three security cameras near Lily's school today. She was watching. Want me to increase protection?"

"Double it," I texted back. "And move Lily to the panic room if anything seems suspicious."

Thomas approached me quietly while the others worked. "You know she'll run, right? Victoria's not stupid. She'll see the walls closing in and try to escape."

"Let her try," I said, thinking of all the airports and train stations Maxwell had already alerted. "She won't get far."

An hour later, the article went live. Margaret had outdone herself. The piece was devastating in its simplicity—just facts, numbers, and testimonials from business owners the Pierces had destroyed. Within minutes, comments poured in. People shared their own stories of being cheated by the Pierce family. Former employees spoke about unpaid wages. Contractors revealed projects they'd completed but were never compensated for.

Sarah showed me her phone. "#PierceCorruption is already trending. Twelve thousand shares in the first ten minutes."

My phone rang again. This time it was Marcus.

"The district attorney is issuing arrest warrants," he said, his voice hollow. "They'll pick up Victoria in the morning. Ethan... thank you for showing me the truth, as painful as it was."

"What will you do now?" I asked.

"Rebuild," Marcus said simply. "Without her poison, maybe Daniel and I can salvage something. Maybe we can become the family we should have been."

After he hung up, I looked around the room at my team, still working furiously. This was what power should be—not crushing the weak, but revealing truth and protecting the innocent.

"Sir?" My assistant approached with an iPad. "You need to see this."

On the screen was a breaking news alert: "Victoria Pierce Flees Country? Sources Report Pierce Matriarch Attempting to Board Private Jet."

My blood ran cold. If Victoria escaped, she'd never face justice. The families she'd destroyed would never get closure.

I grabbed my phone and called Maxwell. "She's running."

"Already on it," Maxwell said, and I could hear car engines in the background. "We have people at every private airfield. She won't make it out."

But even as he said it, I wondered if we'd underestimated Victoria one last time. She'd hidden a living person in a coma for three years. What else was she capable of?

Margaret touched my shoulder gently. "The second article is ready. Should we publish?"

I looked at the headline: "Victoria Pierce's Secret Medical Payments: What Is She Hiding?"

"Not yet," I decided. "Let's see if she runs first. A fleeing suspect is as good as a confession."

David's computer pinged with an alert. "Three of Marcus's biggest clients just terminated their contracts. They're citing 'ethical concerns' about the Pierce family."

The empire was crumbling faster than even I had anticipated. By morning, there would be nothing left of the Pierce dynasty except shame and criminal charges.

But as I stood in that conference room, watching my team dismantle years of lies with truth and technology, I couldn't shake Victoria's final words: "You don't know what I'm capable of."

My phone buzzed. A photo message from an unknown number. I opened it and my heart nearly stopped.

It was a picture of the Peaceful Gardens Nursing Facility. Room 314's door was open.

The bed was empty.

Below the photo, two words: "Too late."