Chapter 8 - THE LAST FAMILY DINNER
We arrived at the vineyard before sunset.
The old farmhouse stood beneath the hills exactly as I remembered it.
Richard had chosen the one place where our family had once been happy.
He was waiting inside.
Julian sat at the dining table with his hands tied.
Victoria stood beside the fireplace.
Richard held a pistol.
“Genevieve.”
I stepped inside.
“You wanted the ledger.”
“Yes.”
I held it up.
“But first, let Julian go.”
Richard laughed.
“You still care about him.”
“I care about the truth.”
He smiled.
“That's why you were always dangerous.”
My mother entered behind me.
Richard's smile disappeared.
“Elena.”
She stared at him.
“You took my son.”
Richard raised the gun.
“And you abandoned him.”
“No.”
My mother's voice was steady.
“You stole him.”
Julian looked at her.
“Is it true?”
She nodded.
“Yes.”
Julian's face collapsed.
Richard stepped closer.
“You should thank me.”
“For what?”
“I made you powerful.”
Julian looked at him with disgust.
“You made me afraid.”
Richard's expression hardened.
“You were weak.”
“No,” Julian said.
“You made me weak.”
Victoria suddenly moved toward the door.
Richard grabbed her arm.
“You're not leaving.”
She pulled away.
“You promised me protection.”
“I promised you money.”
“You promised me everything!”
Her scream echoed through the house.
Richard slapped her.
Julian stood suddenly.
His chair crashed backward.
“Don't touch her.”
Richard pointed the gun at him.
That was when my father gave the signal.
The windows shattered.
Federal agents stormed the farmhouse.
Richard dropped the weapon.
Victoria screamed.
Within seconds, everyone was restrained.
But Richard wasn't finished.
As agents dragged him away, he looked at me.
“You think you've won?”
I stared at him.
“No.”
I pointed toward the ledger.
“The law won.”
He laughed.
“You'll never understand what this family is capable of.”
I answered quietly.
“I understand exactly.”
Then the agents took him away.
Julian remained seated.
For the first time, he looked completely free.
He looked at me.
“I don't expect you to forgive me.”
“I don't.”
He nodded.
“But I want to make something right.”
He reached into his pocket.
A small key.
“What is it?”
“The final trust.”
He placed it on the table.
“Everything Richard stole from your family is protected inside.”
Rebecca opened the accompanying document.
It transferred control back to me.
Not Julian.
Not Richard.
Me.
The woman they had spent years treating like a powerless wife.
The woman they had underestimated.
May you like
I signed.
And with one stroke of a pen, the Vance empire ceased to belong to the Vance family.
