Nobody moved.
The orchestra members had stopped playing.
A violinist still held his bow above the strings, frozen in place.
Victor stood beside me as though he belonged there more than anyone else in the room.
In a way, he did.
Vanguard Horizon had been surviving because of him.
Dominic simply hadn't known it.
“Victor,” Harrison said nervously, “this must be some misunderstanding.”
Victor looked at him.
“No.”
One word.
Harrison swallowed.
“I was told you were overseas.”
“I came back.”
“For the gala?”
“No.”
Victor's gaze moved to Dominic.
“For my sister.”
Dominic stared at him.
Then at me.
His lips parted.
“Sister?”
Nobody answered.
His mother slowly lowered herself into her chair.
“Vivienne?”
I looked at her.
She seemed suddenly much older.
“You're a Sterling?”
I didn't respond.
Victor did.
“Her legal name is Vivienne Sterling.”
The room erupted in whispers.
I could hear the name moving through the crowd.
Sterling.
People knew it.
Some looked toward Victor.
Others toward their phones.
A few executives stepped away from Dominic as though distance might protect them.
Dominic's fiancée stood completely still.
“You never told me,” she whispered.
Dominic turned to her.
“I didn't know.”
She stared at him.
“You didn't know your wife's family?”
He looked at me.
I gave him no help.
Victor stepped forward.
“Dominic Vance.”
Dominic straightened.
“Yes.”
“You have held the position of executive vice president for three years.”
“Yes.”
“You've represented yourself as the principal architect of Vanguard Horizon's expansion.”
“Yes.”
Victor nodded.
“And you've been using company funds to finance personal accounts, shell vendors, and concealed property holdings.”
Dominic's face changed.
“No.”
Victor didn't react.
A man in a dark suit stepped forward.
“Mr. Sterling.”
He was Marcus Thorn, Sterling Capital's senior counsel.
He carried a thick portfolio.
Marcus placed it on the nearest table.
“Would you like me to begin with the procurement companies?”
Dominic looked at him.
“What are you talking about?”
Marcus opened the portfolio.
“Seven vendors.”
He placed documents on the table.
“Three have no employees.”
Another document.
“Two use addresses connected to residential apartments.”
Another.
“One is registered to an individual who died four years ago.”
Dominic's mouth opened.
Marcus continued.
“And the final company is controlled through an offshore trust that eventually transfers money into an account held in your name.”
The room erupted.
Dominic shook his head.
“That isn't possible.”
Marcus looked at him.
“It is.”
Victor turned toward the massive presentation screen.
“Put it up.”
The screen changed.
Bank transfers appeared.
Dates.
Amounts.
Account numbers.
Corporate authorizations.
Messages.
Dominic watched them appear one after another.
His shoulders dropped.
The woman in green stepped farther away.
Her father looked furious.
“You told me your compensation came entirely from legitimate corporate performance.”
Dominic didn't answer.
“I asked you whether there were any financial irregularities.”
Still nothing.
Harrison turned toward Victor.
“You can't destroy a company because of an accusation.”
Victor looked at him.
“This isn't an accusation.”
Marcus tapped the remote.
A new document appeared.
“Audit confirmation.”
Another.
“Federal warrant request.”
Another.
“Evidence preservation order.”
Dominic suddenly moved.
He walked toward Victor.
“Mr. Sterling, please.”
Victor didn't step back.
“I can explain.”
“No.”
“I made mistakes.”
“You made transactions.”
“I can repay everything.”
“You can't.”
Dominic looked at me.
“Vivienne.”
I remained silent.
“Please.”
He sounded different now.
Not arrogant.
Not angry.
Afraid.
He walked toward me.
“You knew about the company.”
“Yes.”
“You knew it was struggling.”
“Yes.”
“You knew I needed contracts.”
“Yes.”
His face twisted.
“How?”
Victor answered.
“She arranged them.”
Dominic stared at him.
“What?”
“Your largest accounts came through Sterling Capital.”
Dominic shook his head.
“No.”
Victor continued.
“We kept you solvent.”
Dominic looked at me.
“For how long?”
“Three years.”
His eyes widened.
“Why?”
I finally spoke.
“Because you were my husband.”
He looked as though I had struck him.
“I thought you believed in me.”
“I did.”
“And you never told me?”
“I wanted you to succeed without knowing my family was helping.”
“You let me think I built all of this.”
“Yes.”
His face hardened again.
“You manipulated me.”
“No.”
“You controlled my career.”
“I protected it.”
“Same thing.”
I looked at him.
“No, Dominic. It isn't.”
He stared at me.
Then his eyes shifted toward the documents.
“What about the money?”
Marcus answered.
“Some of the money was legitimate compensation.”
Dominic breathed again.
“See?”
“Some,” Marcus continued.
Dominic stopped breathing.
“The remainder came from corporate accounts you had no authority to access.”
The relief vanished.
His new fiancée turned to him.
“Is any of it true?”
Dominic said nothing.
She covered her mouth.
Her father looked ready to explode.
“You brought my daughter into this?”
Dominic tried to speak.
“I didn't know—”
“You knew enough.”
Harrison pointed at him.
“You told me your position was secure.”
“It was.”
“No.”
Victor's voice cut across the room.
“It was never secure.”
Dominic looked at him.
“Why?”
Victor answered without emotion.
“Because the only reason you were still standing was my sister.”
That sentence destroyed something in Dominic's face.
He looked at me.
“I loved you.”
I believed that he had once.
That was what made everything worse.
“You loved what you thought I was.”
His eyes filled.
“You never gave me a chance to know.”
“I gave you eight years.”
He looked away.
Sophia had been standing beside Victor.
She was quiet.
Too quiet.
Victor placed a hand on her shoulder.
She looked at Dominic.
“Daddy?”
Dominic turned.
She held the paper necklace.
“You can still have it.”
I closed my eyes.
Victor looked down at her.
Dominic's face collapsed.
He reached toward her.
“Sophia—”
She stepped behind Victor.
The movement was small.
It was also final.
Dominic stopped.
The room watched.
Then Marcus spoke.
“There is one more issue.”
Victor looked at him.
Marcus nodded toward the screen.
“Evidence shows that Mr. Vance concealed corporate funds while simultaneously moving marital assets into accounts designed to prevent his wife from locating them.”
Dominic shook his head.
“No.”
Marcus changed the screen.
A transfer appeared.
Then another.
Then another.
“Those transactions were made shortly before properties were acquired.”
Dominic looked at me.
“I was protecting us.”
“You were hiding money from me.”
“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
He didn't answer.
Marcus closed the portfolio.
“Mr. Vance has been notified of the federal investigation.”
A prosecutor stepped forward.
“Mr. Vance, you are required to remain here while the warrants are executed.”
Dominic looked at Victor.
Then me.
“You planned this.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
Victor looked at him.
“She didn't need to.”
The federal officers moved toward Dominic.
His mother began crying.
His father sat motionless.
The woman in green removed her engagement ring.
She placed it on the table.
“I don't know who you are anymore.”
Dominic watched her leave.
Then he looked at me.
“Vivienne, please.”
I didn't answer.
His eyes went to Sophia.
“Please don't let her hate me.”
I looked down at my daughter.
Then back at him.
“She'll decide for herself.”
The officers reached him.
Metal clicked around his wrists.
The sound carried across the ballroom.
Dominic closed his eyes.
The man who had entered the room believing himself untouchable was now standing in handcuffs.
But as he was led away, he suddenly turned toward Marcus.
“There's someone else.”
Marcus stopped.
Dominic looked terrified.
“There's another account.”
Victor's expression sharpened.
“What account?”
Dominic looked at me.
“One that even I couldn't access.”
The ballroom fell silent.
Victor stepped closer.
“Whose?”
Dominic swallowed.
“Your father's old trust.”
Victor's face became unreadable.
I felt cold.
My father had been dead for years.
And I had never heard of that account.
Click Here to continue read next: PART4: The Hidden Account Exposed the Last Lie, and I Finally Learned How Deeply My Husband Had Used My Family
The Woman at the Door Told Me My Marriage Was a Lie, While My Daughter Held a Gift for Her Father
Part 3 of 8
