Chapter 16 - The Stripping of Privileges
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I stepped to the front of the stage, holding three thick legal documents in my hands. The entire ballroom held its breath, waiting for the final blow.
“Daniel,” I called out, my voice cutting through Vanessa’s hysterical screaming like a sharp blade.
Daniel slowly turned his head to look at me, tears of complete humiliation streaming down his cheeks.
“Effective immediately,” I declared into the microphone, “the lease for your company’s current office space is terminated. You have forty-eight hours to vacate the premises before law enforcement removes your equipment.”
Daniel swallowed hard, taking a shaky step forward. “Dad... please...”
“Furthermore,” I continued relentlessly, “the draft transfer for the Ridgemont estate is permanently canceled. You will surrender the keys to that property by midnight tonight.”
Vanessa let out a choked sob, sinking to her knees on the dance floor, her cheap replacement dress bunching up around her.
“And finally,” I said, looking at him with absolute finality, “pursuant to Section 14-B of the Vance Family Trust, your access to all monthly dividend distributions is hereby suspended indefinitely due to grand theft and moral turpitude.”
Daniel looked at me as if I had just executed him where he stood.
“You... you can’t do this to me, Dad,” Daniel wept openly now, his hands shaking at his sides. “I’m your son! You’re destroying my life over a stupid joke!”
I looked down at him from the stage, my expression as unyielding as granite.
May you like
“No, Daniel,” I said softly into the microphone. “The joke exposed who you really were. The theft finished the job.”
I handed the microphone back to the stunned bandleader, stepped down from the stage, and walked over to Elena.
