Chapter 19 - The Fall of the House of Vale
Grant ignored his mother thrashing in the flowers. He turned desperately toward me, his eyes wide, pleading, reverting back to the pathetic man I had met six years ago.
“Eleanor,” Grant begged, reaching out a trembling hand. “Eleanor, listen to me. I was wrong. I was manipulated. We can fix this. Please.”
My phone chimed brightly in my pocket. It was exactly noon.
“No,” I said, taking a deliberate step back from him. “Now, we fix you.”
Daniel tapped his tablet. The screens behind the altar shifted. The paternity test disappeared, replaced by the official board resolution removing Grant as Chief Executive Officer. Another document flashed on the screen—a federal injunction showing his frozen bank accounts, listing the forged approval, the fraudulent corporate charges, and the illegal patent-backed loan.
Grant stared at the screen, his mouth opening and closing silently. “You… you can’t take my company.”
“It was never your company, Grant,” I said coldly.
The heavy doors at the back of the ballroom opened again. Two plainclothes federal detectives walked down the aisle, flashing their badges. Behind them walked two financial crimes officers.
They bypassed me entirely and approached the altar.
“Grant Vale,” the lead detective stated, pulling a pair of handcuffs from his belt. “You are under arrest for federal wire fraud, embezzlement, and forgery.”
Another pair of officers approached Vivian, who was struggling to stand up from the ruined flowers. “Vivian Vale, we have warrants regarding the transfers from the stolen loan into your private property accounts.”
Celeste screamed as an officer handed her a thick folder of messages, proving her active role in disguising the stolen wedding expenses as investor events.
Vivian looked at me, tears of genuine terror streaming down her ruined makeup. “Eleanor! Please! I’m Lily’s grandmother!”
I looked at her with absolute disgust. “You called her second place.”
Grant, now in handcuffs, looked at me one last time. “I made one mistake, Ellie,” he whispered, his voice broken.
May you like
“You made a choice every single day,” I replied, pulling Lily closer to my chest. “You rejected your daughter, you betrayed your wife, you stole from your employees, and you built a future on another man’s child. Enjoy your new legacy.”
As the officers led them away, the four hundred guests parted like the Red Sea. Not a single person stepped forward to defend them. The hired wedding photographer, realizing the magnitude of the moment, kept shooting relentlessly until Vivian screamed for him to stop.
