Chapter 4 - The Fall of Vanguard Holdings
Forty-eight hours later, the conference room on the top floor of the Vanguard Holdings tower in Valencia was dead silent.
Julian Vance, a slick, impeccably dressed man in his late forties with silver-streaked hair, sat at the head of the glass boardroom table. He checked his luxury watch for the fourth time in five minutes.
“Where is Beatriz?” Julian muttered to his chief legal counsel, a nervous man named Navarro. “She was supposed to have signed the asset transfer documents by yesterday evening. Ever since Alejandro flew back early, her phone has gone straight to voicemail.”
Before Navarro could answer, the heavy oak doors of the boardroom swung open with a loud bang.
Alejandro Rivers walked into the room.
He wasn't alone. Behind him walked two senior inspectors from the Spanish National Police’s financial crimes division, flanked by Mateo and a team of federal auditors.
Julian stood up immediately, forcing a tight, arrogant smile onto his face. “Alejandro! What a surprise. To what do we owe the pleasure of this unexpected visit? If this is about the Marbella coastal tender, I assure you our bids were submitted entirely through proper legal channels—”
“Sit down, Julian,” Alejandro interrupted, his voice cutting through the room like a razor blade.
Julian blinked, his smile faltering. “Excuse me?”
“I said, sit down,” Alejandro repeated as he pulled out a chair at the opposite end of the table and sat down calmly. He slid a thick dossier across the glass surface. “That file contains the complete transaction history of the offshore accounts you and your cousin set up using Valerie as a proxy. It includes wire transfers, encrypted emails detailing the corporate espionage plot, and sworn testimony from your associates in Madrid.”
Julian’s face turned the color of chalk. He looked at the police inspectors standing by the door, then back at Alejandro.
“This... this is absurd,” Julian stammered, his voice losing its professional polish. “You have no proof of any of this. These are fabricated documents—”
“They’re authenticated by the central bank of Spain,” one of the police inspectors stepped forward, flashing an official badge. “Mr. Vance, you are under arrest for conspiracy to commit fraud, industrial espionage, and aiding and abetting child endangerment.”
Before Julian could move, two officers stepped forward and slapped steel handcuffs around his wrists.
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As Julian was hauled backward out of the boardroom, his face twisted in desperate rage, he glared at Alejandro. “You think you’ve won? My legal team will tie your assets up in courts for ten years!”
“Your legal team is currently being arrested for perjury and tax evasion as we speak,” Alejandro replied calmly, leaning back in his chair. “Your company belongs to the state now, Julian. And your freedom belongs to a prison cell.”
