Chapter 6 - THE RECKONING OF ARTHUR VALE
Director Vance clawed frantically at Sebastian’s iron grip, his eyes bulging with terror. He knew Sebastian wasn't bluffing. Sebastian Vale was a man who had built a reputation for ruthless efficiency in the corporate world, but beneath the tailored suits lay a man trained in the darkest corners of family enforcement.
"It... it was Mr. Vale!" Vance choked out, gasping for air. "Arthur... Arthur ordered it! He paid the clinic in Brooklyn... two million dollars... to fake the paternity tests!"
Sebastian threw Vance to the floor like a sack of trash. Vance collapsed, coughing violently, clutching his neck.
Sebastian turned his gaze slowly toward Arthur.
The old patriarch stood tall, his jaw set, refusing to show fear. "I did what was necessary for the survival of this family, Sebastian! That girl was a nobody! A graphic designer from Ohio with no family connections, no pedigree, and no wealth! She was a parasite clinging to your success!"
"She was my wife," Sebastian said, his voice dropping into a horrifyingly quiet register. "And those children are my blood."
"They are a distraction!" Arthur roared, slamming his glass onto the table. "You were meant to marry Clarissa Hart! The Hart family controls the shipping lines in Brooklyn! With that merger, the Vale empire would have been unstoppable for the next fifty years! I could not let a soft-hearted, penniless girl ruin a multi-billion-dollar dynasty!"
"So you lied to me," Sebastian said, stepping closer. "You told me she took ten million dollars and left me. You made me sign those divorce papers believing she had cheated on me. You let her starve in a Queens shelter while carrying my triplets!"
"She was offered money!" Arthur snapped coldly. "She chose to be prideful! She could have lived comfortably if she had just given up the children!"
"You tried to take my children?" Sebastian’s gray eyes turned black with absolute rage. "You threatened her with foster care?"
"I protected this family!" Arthur shouted. "And I would do it again! You are a Vale, Sebastian! You don't get the luxury of marrying for love! You marry for power!"
Sebastian looked at his grandfather for a long, agonizing moment. The man who had raised him after his parents died, the man who had taught him how to run an empire, was nothing more than a heartless monster.
"You're done, Arthur," Sebastian said softly.
Arthur scoffed. "Done? I own fifty-one percent of the voting shares in Vale Enterprises! You cannot remove me!"
"I don't need to remove you from the board," Sebastian pulled a black folder from his inner coat pocket and tossed it onto the desk. "That folder contains thirty years of your illegal offshore transfers, tax evasion, and wiretapping records—including the taped orders you gave Vance to forge Maya's medical records and threaten her life."
Arthur’s arrogant expression faltered. His hand hovered over the folder. "Where... where did you get this?"
"I've been preparing for a war against you for five years, Arthur," Sebastian revealed, a bitter smile touching his lips. "I just didn't realize my motivation would be saving my wife and children. Gavin has already sent digital copies of those files to the United States Attorney's Office and the Federal Reserve."
Arthur sank back into his chair, his face aging ten years in ten seconds. "You... you would ruin your own family name? You would put your own grandfather in prison?"
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"You destroyed my family four years ago," Sebastian said, leaning down until his face was inches from the old man's. "I am simply returning the favor. By sunrise, your voting rights are stripped, your accounts are frozen, and you are banished from every Vale property in the world. If I ever see your face near my wife or children again, I won't call the federal prosecutors. I'll handle you myself."
Sebastian turned and walked out of the library, leaving the broken old tyrant alone in the dark.
