THE HIDDEN HEIR'S VENGEANCE

CHAPTER 16 : The Destruction of the Davies Dynasty

Mark leaned toward Matthew, his voice low but loud enough to reach the opposing table. “Enjoy your last day as a fake genius, Matt. After this, I’ll take over your office. Maybe I’ll let you stay on as a janitor.”

Matthew finally looked at him. His gaze was empty, like a black hole ready to swallow light. “You misunderstand one thing, Mark,” Matthew said quietly.

“Oh?” Mark snorted.

“I didn’t come here to win this trial,” Matthew replied, placing his finger on the tablet. “I came here to carry out an execution.”

A sudden, searing hum tore through Matthew’s cranial nerves. Warnings and data from the ARC system assaulted his physical senses once more.

[SYSTEM WARNING]

[Target Identified: Davies Venture Capital & Jonathan Davies’ Personal Assets]

[Attack Mode: Structural Liquidation ‘Tapeworm Contract’]

[Risk Analysis: High. Legal Counterattack Impossible.

[Execution Cost: 80 Vitality Points (Temporary Cognitive Degradation)]

The pain struck like red-hot nails driven straight into his brain. Matthew held his breath, his hand gripping his knee until his knuckles turned white.

“Pay the price,” he ordered silently. “Destroy them.”

“Your Honor,” Matthew said, rising to his feet and ignoring his panicked attorney. “Before you issue a ruling, I would like to submit new evidence, not regarding this patent, but regarding the source of funds Davies Venture Capital used to finance this lawsuit.”

Jonathan let out a soft laugh as he stood as well. “How is that relevant, Your Honor? This is a desperate tactic.”

“Highly relevant, Mr. Davies,” Matthew replied calmly, his voice echoing through the room. He tapped the send button on his tablet. “Because the firm suing me, as of this very second, no longer possesses legal solvency.”

At the plaintiff’s table, Jonathan’s phone vibrated, then Mark’s, then the phones of their legal team. Not a normal ring, but a barrage of emergency alerts that sounded like a digital fire alarm.

Mark frowned as he stared at his screen. “What is this supposed to be…”

Jonathan’s face drained of color in seconds as he picked up his phone and slowly sank back into his chair. His eyes went wide as he read the screen. “This… this is impossible.”

“What’s happening, Uncle?” Mark asked frantically, seeing his uncle’s hands shake violently.

“All of it…” Jonathan’s voice caught. “All offshore accounts in the Caymans…frozen. Margin calls. My God, margin calls on every short position we hold in the tech sector.”

Matthew walked slowly toward the center of the room, facing the judge, though his words were meant for his enemies.

“Your Honor, Mr. Davies has just experienced what is known as a ‘Tapeworm Contract Collapse.’ His firm’s capital structure was built on debt that fed on itself. I merely… pulled a single thread,” Matthew explained evenly.

“You!” Jonathan shouted, leaping to his feet and knocking his chair backward. “What did you do to my assets? That’s billions of dollars!”

“Digital figures unsupported by real assets,” Matthew replied coldly. “The ARC system… I mean… my analysis discovered that you were using your own employees’ pension funds as collateral for illegal currency speculation. I have just automatically forwarded the evidence to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the FBI.”

The courtroom descended into total chaos. Journalists sprang to their feet, realizing the headline was no longer a patent dispute but a massive financial scandal.

“And the patent you are claiming?” Matthew continued, turning to Mark, who now looked like a lost child. “It no longer matters. The company holding that claim will be seized by the state in less than an hour.”

“Liar Mark screamed, jumping from his chair, his face flushed with rage and terror. “You’re bluffing, Matthew. Uncle, say something!”

Jonathan Davies did not answer. The older man collapsed back into his chair, clutching his chest. His phone kept ringing, calls from banks, investors, and federal prosecutors. An empire built over thirty years had fallen in less than five minutes.

The judge pounded the gavel repeatedly, trying to restore order. “Order. Order in the court,” the judge shouted.

Matthew turned to Mark, his gaze sharp and merciless. “Mark Davies. You wanted to take Lane Corp? You cannot even save your own family’s legacy.”

“I’ll kill you, Matthew Thomas!” Mark lunged forward, abandoning all legal decorum.

Before he could reach Matthew, two court security officers restrained him. Mark thrashed and screamed about conspiracies and fraud, but his voice was swallowed by the bitter reality crashing down around him.

“This court is adjourned until further notice,” the judge declared, visibly shaken by the unfolding disaster.

Amid the chaos, Matthew returned to his table. He felt warm blood trickling from his nose. What he had done was overload. Simultaneously manipulating markets and breaching high-level banking data through the ARC system had taken a toll on his body.

Viviane immediately handed him a tissue, her eyes wide with shock. “Matthew… your nose.”

“Just a small blood vessel ruptured from air pressure,” Matthew deflected, taking the tissue and wiping the blood away with quick, precise movements. “Let’s go, Viviane. We’re finished here.”

“Finished?” Viviane looked at Mark being dragged out by security, screaming curses, and at Jonathan being examined by paramedics for a suspected mild heart attack. “You didn’t just win this case, Matt. You annihilated them.”

“They were parasites,” Matthew replied, sliding his tablet into his briefcase. “If you only swat a fly, it will come back. But if you burn the nest, the problem ends.”

They walked out of the courtroom together, cutting through a swarm of reporters now shouting questions about the Davies fraud scandal. Matthew answered none of them. His face was expressionless, but inside his retina, the ARC system delivered its post-battle report.

[MISSION COMPLETE: Domestic Threat Eliminated]

[Enemy Status: Mark Davies (Bankrupt, Criminal Charges Pending), Jonathan Davies (Assets Seized, Ruined)]

[Reward: ‘Financial Predator’ Reputation Activated. Global Market Level Access Unlocked.]

[Physical Condition: 60%. Total Rest Recommended: 12 Hours.]

As they reached the courthouse lobby, Viviane suddenly stopped and grabbed Matthew’s arm, forcing him to halt.

“Who are you really, Matthew Thomas?” Viviane asked softly. Her voice trembled, not with fear, but with awe mixed with disbelief. “The man I married struggled to calculate our annual taxes, and you… you just brought down a financial dynasty with a few taps on a tablet.”

Matthew looked at his wife, seeing his reflection in her brown eyes, the image of a powerful man, yet also a stranger.

“I am the man needed to protect you in this brutal world, Vie,” Matthew said gently, the only moment when the cold mask cracked. “Mark was only the beginning. There are bigger monsters out there, and now they have surely smelled blood.”

Viviane fell silent for a moment, then nodded. She straightened the collar of Matthew’s suit, an intimate gesture that affirmed her stance. “Then make sure you eat them first.”

Matthew and Viviane stepped out of the courthouse, greeted by flashing cameras and the gray New York sky.