Chloe kept her phone pressed tight against her ribs, refusing to tap the passcode into the glowing screen.
Ethan: You won't unlock it because there is no hospice invoice, is there?
Chloe: If I show you what's on here, Julian will ruin my entire life.
Ethan: Your life? What about my life, Chloe? What about the family firm I spent ten years protecting?
Mark: You don't need her passcode, Mr. Vance. Look at the corridor camera monitor near your dining entrance.
Ethan glanced over at the high-definition security monitor mounted beside the bar counter.
On the screen, two men in dark suits stepped out of the private elevator bank and stood right outside the penthouse doors.
Ethan: Who the hell are they?
Chloe: Oh god... they followed Mark here.
Ethan: Who followed him, Chloe?
Chloe: Julian’s private security detail. They take orders directly from your stepbrother.
The heavy doors rattled as someone tried the brass door handle from the outside.
Voice Outside: Open the door, Vance! We know Mark Stevens is inside with corporate property!
Ethan: This is private penthouse property! Leave before I have building security detain you!
Voice Outside: Your building security works for Vance Holdings, Mr. Vance. And as of five o’clock today, your stepbrother controls the property management contract!
Ethan turned his gaze toward Chloe, his jaw clenching so hard a muscle twitched in his cheek.
Ethan: Is that why Julian needed you to marry me tonight? Because the board meets tomorrow morning?
Chloe: The board has an emergency vote at nine tomorrow, Ethan. If you're married, your father's trust fund releases the sixty percent voting shares to you automatically.
Ethan: And if I'm not married?
Chloe: If you remain unmarried, the voting proxy defaults to your stepbrother as the senior operating director.
Mark: And once Julian has the proxy through your stepbrother, they liquidate Vance Holdings and split a two-hundred-million-dollar buyout.
Ethan: And what was your cut, Chloe? What was the price for selling out my entire family legacy?
Chloe’s voice dropped to a barely audible whisper as tears spilled down her cheeks.
Chloe: Ten million dollars in an offshore trust account, and full custody of my brother's guardianship papers.
Ethan: You sold my grandfather's company for ten million dollars.
Chloe: Julian told me you were cold! He said you were a heartless corporate shark who treated people like chess pieces!
Ethan: Did I ever treat you like a chess piece, Chloe? Did I ever give you anything less than my whole heart?
Chloe looked down at the Persian rug, unable to meet his eyes as shame turned her cheeks crimson.
Chloe: No. You were kinder to me than anyone has ever been.
Ethan: Then why didn't you come to me? Why didn't you tell me Julian was blackmailing you?
Chloe: Because Julian said you would crush me like a bug if you found out I was a plant!
The doors shuddered again under a heavy shoulder slam, the wooden frame groaning under the pressure.
Mark: Mr. Vance, that lock won't hold more than two minutes. If they take this iPad, all proof of their illegal proxy manipulation disappears.
Ethan walked over to the antique telephone on the credenza and punched three numbers into the keypad.
Ethan: Put me through to Chief Inspector Reynolds at Central Precinct. Tell him Ethan Vance is holding two armed trespassers on the forty-fifth floor.
The line clicked on speaker, a gruff authority voice filling the room.
Inspector Reynolds: Ethan? We received your emergency ping five minutes ago. SWAT units are already in your service elevator.
The banging outside the heavy doors stopped abruptly as shouts echoed down the hallway outside.