Chapter 8 - Stripped of the Family Name
At two o'clock that afternoon, I arrived at the grand steps of the County
Courthouse.
I wasn't hiding.
I wore a tailored cream coat, simple diamond studs, and my dark hair pulled back
into a sleek, professional ponytail.
Beside me walked Declan.
He wore an immaculately tailored black suit.
No security guards pushed people aside.
The crowd of reporters parted on their own, hushed by the sheer gravity of his
presence.
Dozens of microphones were thrust forward.
Cameras flashed like a thunderstorm in the autumn afternoon.
"Mrs. Vance! Are you pressing criminal assault charges against Bianca Vale?"
"Mr. Vance, will you be buying out the remaining assets of the Vale Logistics
group?"
Neither of us answered.
We walked up the wide granite steps with steady, unhurried strides.
At the top of the steps stood Bianca Vale.
She was flanked by two nervous junior lawyers in cheap suits.
Her designer silver dress from the night before had been replaced by a rumpled
black trench coat.
Her hair was unwashed, pulled into a hasty bun.
Her sunglasses covered her eyes, but they couldn't hide the deep, dark bags
beneath them.
When she saw us, she stopped dead in her tracks.
Her lawyers tried to pull her toward the side entrance, but she pulled away from
them.
She ran toward me.
"Iris!" she shouted, her voice hoarse and cracked.
Reporters turned their lenses instantly.
Microphones swiveled toward her like artillery guns.
Declan stepped forward to block her, but I placed a gentle hand on his forearm.
"Let her speak," I said quietly.
Bianca stopped three steps below me.
She looked up, panting, clutching her coat around her chest.
She ripped off her oversized sunglasses.
Her eyes were red, swollen, and wide with sheer panic.
"Iris... please," she begged, not caring about the twenty cameras capturing
every second.
"They seized our house."
"The marshals threw my mother out on the lawn three hours ago."
"My father is in a medical ward at the jail."
"They took my car."
"They closed my bank accounts."
"I don't have twenty dollars to buy a sandwich!"
A bitter laugh escaped her lips, teetering on the edge of complete madness.
"You won!" she cried out.
"Are you happy now?"
"You destroyed an entire family in twelve hours!"
The reporters leaned forward, waiting for my reaction.
They wanted drama.
They wanted me to scream back.
They wanted a shouting match on the courthouse steps.
I looked down at her.
My face remained calm.
"I didn't destroy your family, Bianca," I said clearly.
The microphones picked up every syllable.
"Your father built his empire on fraud."
"Your brother built his fortune on theft."
"And you built your status on cruelty."
"You thought that having money gave you the right to strip away another person's
dignity."
"You thought that because I was holding a tray of water, I was subhuman."
Bianca took a step up, tears flooding her cheeks.
"I said I was sorry!" she wailed.
"I apologized in the ballroom!"
"No," I replied, my voice dropping lower, cold and final.
"You apologized to my husband's bank account."
"You apologized to the power he holds."
"You never once apologized to the woman whose clothes you ripped in front of six
hundred people."
Bianca froze.
Her mouth opened, but no words came out.
"Today, the district attorney filed felony assault charges against you," I
continued.
"I will not be dropping them."
"You will stand trial."
"You will face a judge."
"And you will perform two thousand hours of community service."
"Wearing an orange vest."
"Serving soup."
"Cleaning floors."
"Doing the very work you mocked last night."
Bianca’s knees trembled.
She collapsed onto the cold granite steps.
Her hands slapped against the dirty stone.
"No..." she sobbed, burying her face in her palms.
"Please... not that..."
"Maybe then," I said softly, looking down at her one last time, "you will
finally learn your place."
I turned away.
Declan took my hand, lacing his strong fingers through mine.
Together, we walked through the towering bronze doors of the courthouse.
May you like
Behind us, the shutters of a hundred cameras clicked in rapid succession,
immortalizing the moment Bianca Vale fell to her knees on the courthouse steps.
