Chapter 4 - The Ivy League Illusion
Richard let out a harsh, mocking laugh that sounded like dry leaves scraping across concrete.
"You think this little nurse's piece of paper protects you from our legal reach, Sophia?" Richard sneered, adjusting his gold cufflinks.
"I have the top corporate litigation firm in Manhattan on retainer, and my daughter Alyssa is a senior partner track at Sterling Global Capital.
We have the resources to tie up your medical patents in intellectual property litigation until you don't have a single penny left for your little clinic."
Alyssa looked up from her phone, crossing her arms over her emerald blazer with a sneer of manufactured superiority.
"You should have been grateful we even allowed you to keep your trust fund credentials, Sophia," Alyssa chimed in, tossing her highlighted hair.
"Some of us actually earned our degrees at Oxford and Columbia through legitimate family prestige, while you played the victim in a hospital ward."
I couldn't help the small, sardonic smile that curved the corner of my lips as I reached into my leather briefcase.
I pulled out a manila folder stamped with the official seal of the New York State Department of Financial Regulation and the Columbia Board of Trustees.
"Is that what you tell your country club friends, Alyssa?" I asked, flipping open the top page of the dossier.
"Because according to the official registrar records I audited during my residency credentials review, you were expelled from Oxford in your sophomore year for paid academic fraud.
And your current position at Richard's firm is nothing more than an unlisted payroll conduit used to disguise corporate tax evasion."
Alyssa’s smug expression dissolved instantly into sheer, petrified horror.
She snatched at the air, her voice cracking into a shrill panic as nearby trustees and journalists began leaning in to listen.
"Where... where did you get those records?" Alyssa stammered, looking frantically at her father.
"I got them because as Chief Fellow, I sit on the University Ethics Review Board," I replied, holding the documents high for the cameras to capture.
"And when Richard applied for a university development partnership using your forged academic credentials as collateral, the compliance committee flagged the fraud."
"You didn't go to Oxford, Alyssa."
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"You spent four years in a luxury penthouse in London while your father laundered stolen funds to hide your expulsion from high society."
Richard’s face drained of every ounce of color, his chest heaving as the foundation of his family’s fabricated prestige began to crumble before the city's most influential elite.
