Chapter 14: The Hidden Heiress

The area outside the Grand Palais was filled with expensive perfume, car smoke, and the sound of hundreds of cameras.

A bright red carpet stretched across the street.

Thousands of people stood behind the velvet ropes, waiting to see the biggest fashion event in Paris.

Inside the private courtyard, Vivian Vance stood on the grand stone steps.

She looked like a queen in a beautiful silver dress.

Around her were important board members and powerful European fashion leaders.

They were drinking champagne and watching the reporters take pictures of Vivian's big victory.

"A perfect opening, Vivian," one French board member said.

He raised his glass.

"It seems your cousin Adrian and his substitute bride were too afraid to come to Paris."

Vivian laughed.

Her eyes moved proudly across the crowd.

"Adrian is a brilliant businessman," she said.

"But he forgot something."

She lifted her chin.

"High fashion requires a reputation that money cannot buy."

She smiled coldly.

"A disabled man and a poor designer belong in New York, not on my runway."

Then something strange happened.

A deep, powerful beat began to shake the street.

It wasn't coming from the Grand Palais.

The sound was coming from outside.

Suddenly, twelve black Vance Logistics vans raced around the corner.

They stopped perfectly beside Vivian's red carpet.

They blocked the road in front of the VIP cars.

Vivian's smile disappeared.

"What is this?" she shouted.

She turned toward her security guards.

"Move those vehicles!"

But before the guards could do anything, all twelve vans opened at the same time.

Twelve international supermodels stepped out.

Vivian's eyes widened.

These were the same models her fashion group had blacklisted only one day earlier.

But they were not wearing Vivian's clothes.

They were wearing The Phoenix Collection.

The crowd gasped.

The lights hit the special Starlight Brocade fabric.

It shimmered like liquid stars as the models walked.

The clothes moved beautifully with every step.

A famous fashion reporter suddenly shouted.

"My God! Look at that fabric!"

He dropped his notes.

"That's not Vivian's collection!"

He stared at the models.

"That's Aria Lin's famous design style!"

Suddenly, all the cameras turned away from Vivian.

Hundreds of photographers rushed toward the street.

Reporters broke through the velvet ropes.

The ordinary Paris street had become Sarah's runway.

Then Sarah appeared.

She walked behind the final model.

She wore a sharp ivory tuxedo dress.

Her head was held high.

Her eyes were filled with confidence.

Every camera turned toward her.

Vivian grabbed the stone railing.

Her fingers tightened around it.

"Sarah!" she shouted.

"You arrogant little pest!"

She turned toward her PR director.

"Stop their music!"

"Call the police!"

"Have them arrested for blocking the street!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, cousin."

The deep voice came from behind her.

Vivian froze.

Her face went pale.

She slowly turned around.

Adrian was coming through the glass doors.

He was sitting in his wheelchair again.

He wore a perfect midnight-blue tuxedo.

His face was cold and calm.

But his eyes held a dangerous warning.

Behind him stood four French police officers.

Adrian's private security team stood behind them.

One of them was holding a thick blue Swiss medical folder.

"Adrian?" Vivian whispered.

The board members began whispering among themselves.

"You can't stop my event," Vivian said quickly.

"This building is under my company's legal contract."

"I don't care about your building," Adrian replied.

His voice was calm but powerful.

He raised one hand.

His secretary immediately gave the board members a signed legal document.

"While you were busy controlling the runway," Adrian said, "the main branch bought your main European supply company."

Vivian's face changed.

"As of five minutes ago, your exclusive contract is cancelled."

Vivian stared at him in shock.

Her entire business was falling apart.

Then the glass elevator opened.

Victoria Vance stepped out.

She had just arrived from her emergency flight.

Her hair was messy.

Her face looked worried.

She rushed toward Vivian.

"Vivian! We have a problem!"

She suddenly stopped.

She saw Adrian.

Then Sarah.

Then the four police officers.

Her face became pale.

"The Swiss files..." Victoria whispered.

Sarah walked up the stairs.

She looked directly at Victoria.

Then she raised the original handwritten note from the Swiss archive.

"Looking for this, Aunt Victoria?"

Victoria's body went stiff.

She knew immediately that everything was over.

The trap had closed.

And she had walked straight into it.

**********************************************************

The flashing cameras filled the VIP terrace.

Reporters rushed closer.

Everyone wanted to know what was happening.

"What is the meaning of this?" Victoria screamed.

She backed away until she hit the railing.

"Adrian, you are using a public place to attack your own family!"

She pointed at the folder.

"That document is fake!"

"A fake?"

Sarah stepped forward.

Her voice was clear enough for the reporters to hear.

She held up the original medical document.

"This note has your personal company seal."

Victoria's face became pale.

"It also matches the bank details of the account you used to send five million dollars to Dr. Geller."

Sarah's eyes were cold.

"The Swiss authorities have already taken the clinic's computer records."

The board members gasped.

One French businessman whispered,

"This is a murder cover-up."

He quickly moved away from Victoria.

Vivian stood frozen.

She finally understood what had happened.

By joining forces with Victoria, she had connected her entire company to people accused of murder.

"Officers," Adrian said.

His voice was calm.

"Carry out the international arrest warrant."

One of the French officers stepped forward.

He removed a pair of handcuffs from his belt.

"Victoria Vance, you are under arrest."

The officer continued.

"You are being arrested for corporate fraud, stealing money, and taking part in the planned killing of Aria Lin and Madelyn Vance."

"No!"

Victoria screamed.

"Touch me and I'll sue this entire police department!"

The officers grabbed her arms.

They pulled her hands behind her back.

Click.

The handcuffs locked around her wrists.

The cameras flashed again and again.

Victoria suddenly turned toward Adrian.

Her eyes were filled with hatred.

"Your mother was weak!" she shouted.

"She deserved to lose her position!"

Then she pointed at Sarah.

"And you!"

"You think this girl really loves you?"

Victoria laughed bitterly.

"She only used you to get her mother's designs back!"

"Once she gets her fashion empire, she'll leave you with nothing!"

Adrian remained completely calm.

He slowly reached for Sarah's hand.

Their fingers joined.

His grip was warm and strong.

He looked up at Sarah.

His eyes showed something she had never seen so clearly before.

Love.

"Then let her take everything," Adrian said.

His voice was loud enough for the cameras to hear.

"Everything I own already belongs to her."

Sarah's heart stopped for a moment.

Victoria stared at them in disbelief.

Then the police dragged her away.

She was taken down the grand steps of the Grand Palais in handcuffs.

The cameras followed every moment.

The woman who had controlled New York's social world for years was finally finished.

Sarah looked down at her joined hand with Adrian's.

Her heart was beating wildly.

Her mother's name had been cleared.

Eleanor and Victoria had been exposed.

Her enemies were finally falling.

But when Sarah looked into Adrian's eyes, she realized something even more dangerous.

She was falling in love with her fake husband.

Before she could say anything, Adrian's secretary suddenly rushed toward them.

His face was filled with panic.

"Sir, we have an emergency."

Adrian looked at him.

"What happened?"

"The global pre-orders for the Phoenix Collection have passed fifty million dollars."

Sarah's eyes widened.

"But that's not the problem."

The secretary handed Adrian an encrypted tablet.

"An anonymous buyer from London has just bought fifty-one percent of the main luxury company behind our fashion business."

Adrian's eyes became cold.

"Who approved a hostile takeover during this press conference?"

The secretary shook his head.

"We don't know, sir."

He showed Adrian the screen.

A new European company had just been registered.

At the bottom of the billionaire registry was a golden symbol.

The House of Laurent.

The ancient European family controlled one of the largest fashion empires in the world.

A message was attached to the purchase.

It was addressed directly to Sarah.

She read it.

"To my biological daughter, Sarah Lin Vance. Welcome back to the high table. It is time to come home to London."

Sarah stopped breathing.

She stared at the screen.

Her entire world seemed to change in one second.

She wasn't just the poor girl from New York anymore.

She wasn't only Adrian's contract wife.

She was the hidden daughter of the House of Laurent.

Sarah was the secret heiress to the biggest fashion dynasty in the world.

And someone had just come to claim her.