Inside the grand foyer, Brandon turned to his mother with a smirk on his face. He adjusted his silk tie and smoothed down the front of his jacket. He felt proud of himself for putting his wife in her place. He had wanted to assert his power for months, and now she was finally gone.
Brandon: She will be back before dinner, Mother. She does not even have enough money to buy a coffee.
Evelyn: Brandon... I think you made a terrible mistake just now.
Brandon: A mistake? She was getting disrespectful! She needed a reality check!
Evelyn: You do not understand what your father did before he died.
Brandon stopped smiling. He turned toward his mother, seeing the genuine panic in her pale eyes. Her hands were shaking as she held her expensive leather handbag against her chest. She looked older and far more fragile than she had just ten minutes ago.
Brandon: What are you talking about? Dad left us the firm and the house.
Evelyn: Your father lost forty million dollars in the foreign exchange market four years ago.
Brandon: That is impossible. He built Sterling Financial into a powerhouse!
Evelyn: He did not save the company, Brandon. Victoria saved it.
Brandon stared at his mother in disbelief. He shook his head and let out a short, nervous laugh. He walked over to the bar in the corner of the room and poured himself a glass of cold water. His hands were starting to feel strange and warm.
Brandon: Victoria was twenty-four years old back then! She was just a junior analyst!
Evelyn: Her last name was not Miller, Brandon. Miller was her mother's maiden name.
Brandon: What are you saying, Mother? Speak clearly!
Evelyn: She is Victoria Vance. The sole heiress to Vance Global Conglomerate.
The water glass froze halfway to Brandon's lips. Vance Global was the largest investment firm in the entire country. They owned major banks, real estate networks, and global shipping lines. Their total net worth was estimated in the tens of billions of dollars. They were the silent giants that controlled every major corporation in the city.
Brandon: No... no, that cannot be true. Why would a billionaire marry me?
Evelyn: Your father begged her father for a bailout. Old Mr. Vance agreed, but on one condition.
Brandon: What condition?
Evelyn: Victoria wanted to live a normal life away from her family's fame. She agreed to manage our assets personally and keep our business afloat, but she wanted to be loved for who she was, not her name.
Brandon dropped his glass. It shattered into dozens of sharp pieces against the white marble floor. Water splashed over his shoes, but he did not even notice. His heart began to hammer wildly against his ribs as a cold sweat broke out across his forehead.
Brandon: She... she owns our company?
Evelyn: She owns eighty-five percent of our common equity, Brandon. She has held the master trust since the day you married her.
Brandon: I am the Chief Executive Officer! My name is on the front door!
Evelyn: You are an employee, my son. An employee who just threw the owner out of the house.
Brandon pulled his smartphone out of his pocket with trembling fingers. He tapped rapidly on his banking application to view his account balances. He expected to see his usual nine-million-dollar corporate line of credit. Instead, a bright red message flashed across the screen: ACCESS DENIED. ACCOUNT SUSPENDED BY PRIMARY TRUSTEE.
Brandon: No... no, this must be a glitch in the software!
Suddenly, his phone began to ring violently in his hand. The caller ID displayed the name of Mark, the chief legal counsel for Sterling Financial. Brandon pressed the speaker button with a shaking thumb.
Brandon: Mark! What is going on with my mobile banking access?
Mark: Brandon, where are you right now? You need to get to headquarters immediately!
Brandon: Tell me what happened first!
Mark: An emergency freeze was just placed on all corporate lines of credit. The bank says our primary backer withdrew all funding five minutes ago!