Chapter 17 - THE VANCE LEGACY|
A murmur swept through the elite crowd.
Roman stepped up beside me, his hand slipping casually into his jacket pocket toward his piece. "Julian Vance. You're thirty thousand miles outside your jurisdiction."
"I am here on family business, Mr. Vale," Lord Vance replied coldly, pulling a heavy black velvet box from his coat. "Claire's mother was the illegitimate daughter of Arthur Vance. Which makes Claire the sole remaining blood heir to the Vance Art Collection in Europe."
I stared at the old man in complete disbelief. "What?"
"Your husband Miles didn't steal four million dollars to buy illegal art, my dear," Julian Vance revealed, his eyes glittering with ancient greed. "He discovered your bloodline three years ago. He was using your firm's money to pay off European brokers to suppress your true identity so he could claim the Vance inheritance himself!"
Everything clicked into place like pieces of a horrifying puzzle.
Miles hadn't just been a pathetic gambler. He had been actively hiding my own multi-million-dollar family heritage from me!
"The Vance collection..." I whispered, looking at Roman. "The stolen 1904 Impressionist landscape in your brownstone..."
"It belongs to you, Claire," Lord Vance stated, opening the black velvet box.
May you like
Inside lay a heavy platinum signet ring encrusted with deep blue sapphires—the official seal of the Vance matriarch.
"The European board has recognized your claim," Julian continued. "You are now worth over two hundred million pounds. But to claim it, you must return to London immediately and sign the covenant."
