A teacup shattered at my feet.
"Fine. Go! I want to see what you can amount to in this city without me! Get out!"
Vanessa reached out as if to stop me—her fingers grazing my sleeve in a calculated miss. She looked distressed, acting powerless.
"Sister, don't throw a tantrum! Just apologize!"
"Nessa, let her go!" Richard shouted. "Ungrateful wretch! When she hits a wall, she'll realize how wrong she was!"
Even hardened as I was, hearing my family openly favor an outsider still stung. Heat pricked my eyes.
I blinked it away, turned, and walked out. Hailed a taxi. Didn't look back.
Back at my office, a file sat on my desk—Tyler's latest findings.
I flipped through the financial records. A cold smile touched my lips as I slammed it shut.
"I knew it. Vanessa isn't clean."
The year-end inspection had arrived. Downstairs at Ascend Corporation headquarters, the official vehicles pulled up to the curb.
My team bypassed reception and marched straight toward Vanessa's office.
"Investigate me?"
Hearing the commotion, she looked up from her desk, scoffing. "Do you have any idea who I am? Who authorized this?"
"I did."
The color drained from her face.