Clara: Bring the sports car around to the front entrance right now.
Valet: Yes, Miss Vance. Immediately.
Clara stepped into the low-slung, black luxury sedan and pulled the heavy door shut, sealing out the commotion spilling out from the hotel lobby.
The soft ambient hum of the electric engine hummed quietly as she adjusted the rearview mirror to look at the scratches on her cheek.
Clara: Pain is temporary. The company is forever.
She picked up her phone, pressed a single speed-dial button, and raised the phone to her ear.
Marcus: Boss? Is the gala over already?
Clara: Wipe the servers. Delete everything they own.
Marcus: Are you sure? Once I initiate the secondary protocol, their access codes will be permanently revoked across all thirty subsidiaries.
Clara: Do it now, Marcus. Do not leave a single trace of their administrative accounts active.
Marcus: Executing code now. What about the physical asset titles?
Clara: Transfer the mansion, the private jet, and the real estate portfolio back to the primary family trust.
Marcus: Done. Julian's credit cards just declined at the hotel bar.
Clara: Good. How long until the federal marshals arrive at the venue?
Marcus: They should be pulling up to the valet area in about thirty seconds.
Clara looked out her driver's side window just as three dark SUVs with flashing blue and red lights pulled up to the hotel doors.
Clara: Excellent timing, Marcus. Make sure our divorce lawyer files the emergency annulment papers first thing in the morning.
Marcus: Already drafted. The prenup they forced you to sign actually contained an anti-fraud clause that invalidates their claims entirely.
Clara: My father always told me to let your enemies write their own traps.
Marcus: Evelyn is going to lose her entire estate by midnight.
Clara: She brought this on herself the moment she put her hands on me.
Clara put the car into drive and smoothy pulled away from the curb, watching in her side mirror as federal agents poured into the hotel lobby.
Julian: Clara! Wait! Clara, stop the car!
Julian stumbled out of the main doors, his suit soaked in champagne and his knees covered in dirt as he chased the car down the driveway.
Clara: Look at him in the mirror, Marcus. Running after money he never earned.
Marcus: Should I block his mobile phone line too?
Clara: No. Leave it open. I want him to hear the bank's automated message when he tries to pay for his bail.
Marcus: You are ruthless, Clara.
Clara: I'm not ruthless, Marcus. I'm just taking back what belongs to my family.
She pressed the accelerator, leaving Julian shouting uselessly into the night air as her car melted into the city traffic.