Chapter 12 - A Mother's Betrayal
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"Hello, Sarah," Arthur Vance said, his voice smooth, cultured, and terrifyingly familiar. "You look so much like your father when you're angry."
I froze in the doorway, my mind struggling to process the man standing before me. He looked older, his hair silvered at the temples, but his cold grey eyes were identical to my father's.
"You're dead," I gasped, holding my bruised throat. "My father buried you ten years ago."
Arthur chuckled, setting his tablet down on top of a server rack. "Richard didn't bury me, my dear. He hid me. When the federal government began investigating Vanguard's early defense algorithms, your father needed a fall guy. He staged my death, paid off a foreign coroner, and kept me tucked away in the shadows to run his off-grid intelligence projects."
"And Mary?" I demanded. "Where does she fit into your sick family reunion?"
"Mary was your father's most loyal soldier," Arthur explained, stepping closer. "And my wife."
The revelation hit me like a physical blow.
"Beckett... is your son," I whispered, the horrifying truth unraveling in my mind. "Beckett isn't just a fortune hunter. He's my cousin!"
"Your half-cousin, technically," Arthur corrected with a cold smirk. "Your father promised us half of Vanguard's equity thirty years ago. But when he realized he was dying, he got soft. He left everything to you—his precious, brilliant daughter—while leaving my family with scraps and secrecy."
"So you orchestrated my marriage," I said, blood rushing to my ears. "You sent Beckett to marry me, to gaslight me, to make me look insane so you could steal back what you thought was yours!"
"Beckett was supposed to handle it quietly," Arthur spat, his tone turning venomous. "He was supposed to slip those psychiatric drugs into your tea over six months. But he got greedy. He got impatient. And my wife... well, Mary always did enjoy a bit of hands-on discipline."
"Hands up! On your knees right now!" Officer Thompson commanded, stepping past me with his gun trained directly at Arthur's chest.
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Arthur didn't look frightened. He simply looked at his watch.
"You're too late, Officer," Arthur said softly. "The final block validation just cleared. The share transfer is complete. Vanguard Systems no longer belongs to Sarah Vance."
