Chapter Twenty Eight: The Last Surviving Daughter

The silence that followed Cassandra’s words was so heavy it felt like it was choking me.⁠ Her trembling, manicured finger was still pointed directly at my face, her elegant composure completely shattered into a million ugly pieces.

Of all the things I expected to see that night, jealousy had never been one of them. But the look in Cassandra’s eyes wasn’t corporate anger. It was heartbreak. She wasn't just angry that Silas was alive. She was furious that I was the one standing next to him.

I know exactly how women act when they have feelings for someone.

The entire boardroom was still staring⁠ including Arthur at all of us like they have seen a ghost

Silas blood-stained hand was still clenched tight in my hand, his fingers casually dropping over the grip of the pistol tucked into his waistband. He didn't pull it out, but the subtle shift of his shoulders made two investors near the door quietly slide backward in their chairs.

"Careful, Cassandra," Silas said. His voice was dangerously soft. “You're speaking to my wife. And in this building, her word carries the exact same weight as mine."

"Your wife?" Cassandra laughed, a bitter sound that completely ruined her perfect, high-society image. She took a staggering step toward him, entirely ignoring me now.

Her eyes were wide and glassy with a desperate emotion as she stared at Silas's chest before looking straight into his face. “Silas, look at her! She’s a nobody! A little broke girl from a dead family! You forced a contract on her to shield your own assets, but you expect us to believe you actually care about her?!"

Ok! Guess what? Cassandra Vale was deeply, desperately in love with my husband, and seeing him stand covered in blood just to shield me was driving her insane.

But I didn’t even say anything. I wanted Silas himself to speak.

"The contract is none of your business, Cassandra," Silas responded coldly.

Arthur, who had been frozen at the head of the table like a statue, finally found his voice. He dropped his fountain pen onto the transition documents, took off his glasses, his face hardening as he looked at Silas. He slammed both hands on the glass table.

“Enough!” he barked.

I look at him with disgust. Like (who is this one talking)? “Dead or alive, Silas, you can't just walk in here and stop the signing. The media already reported the facility explosion. The board has already agreed to transition the Vane hierarchy to the Laurent group.”

"Then the board agreed to a fraud," I interrupted, stepping forward. I didn't care that my knees were shaking or that my clothes still smelled like the smoke of Level Four. The raw, unfiltered memory of how I saw him close to the car during my parents death and at Lena house clouded my memory and that alone fueled a rage I didn't know I possessed.

I leaned flat against the polished glass table, staring Arthur dead in his eyes.

"Victor Laurent isn't coming to sign anything. And I don’t remember you bearing the name Laurent, Arthur. So why are you the one signing?”

I let out a cold cough. “The Archive is officially unlocked, and his entire little coup just choked to death in the basement. I know every single name on the ledger, Arthur. I know who funded the hit nineteen years ago."

I really didn’t know if victor was dead, I just framed that up to cause confusion.

Arthur’s face went completely ghostly white. He instinctively looked at Cassandra, his hands starting to tremble against the table.

"You're bluffing," Cassandra hissed, her voice shaking as she glared at me, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the edge of the glass table. "Victor can never be dead. If you don’t keep your mouth shut, I would shut you up!”

"Try me," I commanded with anger in my tone. Now I really don’t know what happening to me but I’m loving this new act.

Cassandra just shrink backward to avoid me touching her. And before she could fire back, Silas phone rang.

“Yes Elias! Hope no problem?”

I couldn’t hear what Elias was saying at the other end but the only sentence Silas said afterward was….

“No problem, you can move ahead.”

“You should have stayed beneath the rubble with the rest of them.” Cassandra said the moment Silas hung up his phone—but she was looking right at me.

“You aren’t worth my time Cassandra! Get that into your thick skull”. I snapped.

Everyone in the room gasp including Silas. I felt so victorious. Now no one was going to see me less though I was still a little bit nervous.

“Now step out Arthur”. Silas commanded. Just as Arthur was about to reply..

A heavy, metallic “DING” echoed from the private elevator foyer across the hallway.

The sleek doors slid open, and the suffocating stench of ozone and burning plastic instantly flooded the office floor. Staggering into the room, coughing violently and covered in thick black soot, was Julian. His jacket was torn, his knuckles were bloody, and his gray eyes were wild with an unhinged, dangerous fury.

And dragged tightly by his arm, looking completely ruined but still wearing a devilish, venomous smirk, was Aunt Marissa.

Victor was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is Victor?" Cassandra breathed, her eyes widening in horror as she took a step toward the door.

"Dead," Julian rasped, wiping a streak of ash from his jaw as he stepped fully into the boardroom, pointing his weapon directly at Silas's head. "The old man couldn't outrun the gas line before the vents sealed. But I did. And I am not leaving this tower empty-handed."

Marissa leaned heavily against the doorframe, gasping for air, but her eyes locked onto me with pure hatred. Cassandra was behind her helping her move in carefully.

“Ooh poor victor!” I said like I was about to cry (playfully).

Cassandra just rolled her eyes.

Now I was proud of the new me. I wasn’t even bothered an inch because Marissa was good at acting up and later betraying you so I didn’t care.

"Vienne... you ungrateful little bitch. You ruined nineteen years of planning."

"You did that to yourself, Marissa," I spat back, my heart hammering violently against my ribs.

Julian didn't care about our drama.

He looked past Silas, his eyes landing straight on the unsigned transition documents in front of Arthur. A dark, charismatic smile crossed his face.

"Arthur, put that pen back in your hand. You're going to change the transition name to Julian Caelthorne. Right now."

How stupid of Julian to say that easily like he was a magician or something.

"Julian, drop the gun," Silas commanded, his massive frame shifting completely in front of me, shielding me from Julian’s line of sight. "You're outnumbered, and your security team doesn't have clearance for this floor."

"Are you sure about that, brother-in-law?"

Silas reached into the inside pocket of his torn jacket and tossed a small black flash drive onto the table.

It slid across the polished glass before stopping directly in front of one of the board member who looked completely confused.⁠

“Elias spent the last six months collecting evidence,” Silas said. “Financial transfers. falsified reports. illegal acquisitions. private communications.”

He stared at the drive.

“Cassandra Vale, Victor Laurent, and several members of this board have been attempting to seize control of Vane Global. You all can’t trust them to run the company”.

The silence that followed was deafening.

Cassandra laughed.

“Oh, this is pathetic,” she scoffed. “You expect us to believe that after disappearing for days? You’re unstable, Silas. You’ve clearly suffered some kind of breakdown. Probably memory loss.” She let out a last laugh.

Silas also laughed mimicking her laughter. I laughed softly at that little comedy.

He brought out his phone while everyone watched him. “Come in”.

The mahogany doors swung open.

Elias stepped into the boardroom. Lena followed behind him, supporting my Godmother.

The second my Godmother entered the room, several older board members shot to their feet.

One elderly man nearly dropped his cane.

“No,” he whispered. “It can’t be.”

Another woman covered her mouth.

“Elena Caelthorne?”

My Godmother looked exhausted.

But she lifted her chin proudly.

“Good evening,” she said softly.

The room exploded again.

I looked between everyone in confusion.

“Who is Elena Caelthorne?” I asked.

No one answered immediately.

Then Arthur slowly came to my front. He looked directly at me. I became scared of what he was about to do.

But instead, he bowed.

Every single board member followed.

My heart stopped.

“What are you doing?” I whispered.

Arthur looked up.

“Paying respect,” he said quietly.

I had thought Arthur was a wicked fellow the money I saw him at that spot on Lena door and the memory. He continued.. cutting me from my thoughts…

“To the last surviving daughter of the Caelthorne Dynasty.”

The room seemed to spin around me.