Assistant Mark: "Here are the revised board proposals for the new fiscal year, Ms. Vance."
Victoria: "Set them on the desk. Have the legal team finished reviewing the property titles?"
Assistant Mark: "Yes. The main estate mansion has been officially transferred back into your name. Chloe handed over her keys this morning without a fight."
Victoria: "Where is she staying?"
Assistant Mark: "From what I understand, she checked into a cheap motel on the edge of town. She tried calling several of her old friends from the gala, but nobody picked up."
Victoria looked out the floor-to-ceiling windows of her top-floor corner office, looking over the city skyline. It was raining outside, the droplets sliding down the glass just like the champagne had on the ballroom floor. She felt no regret, only a quiet sense of relief that justice had finally been served.
Victoria: "Actions have consequences, Mark. For years, Chloe and her mother thought they could crush anyone who stood in their way because of their money."
Assistant Mark: "They learned the hard way that real power comes from truth, not money."
Victoria: "Speaking of Eleanor, how is her legal situation?"
Assistant Mark: "The judge denied bail this morning due to flight risk concerns. Her trial is set for next month. Without access to company funds, she was assigned a public defender."
Victoria sat down at her massive mahogany desk, opening the first folder of corporate business. The cut on her cheek had healed into a thin, faint line—a small price to pay for reclaiming her rightful place.
Victoria: "Issue a press release today. Vance Enterprises will be donating five million dollars to the local homeless shelter project."
Assistant Mark: "Right away, ma'am. The public is going to love this."
Victoria: "I'm not doing it for the public. I'm doing it because it's what my father wanted."
Mark smiled, nodded, and stepped out of the office, closing the heavy oak door behind him. Victoria leaned back in her leather chair, looking at a framed photo of her and her father standing in front of the building years ago.
Victoria: "I took it back, Dad. All of it."
She closed the file, picked up her pen, and got to work, knowing that the empire was finally in safe hands, and nobody would ever step in her way again.