Chapter 7
Victoria stumbled backward, shrinking away from Alexander’s towering fury. Her evening heels snagged on the thick Persian rug, and she caught herself on the back of an armchair. The fair, rosy skin of her face was blotchy with panic.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this!" Victoria cried out, dropping the aristocratic facade. Her voice was shrill, echoing off the high ceilings of the penthouse. "Richard promised me he would just keep her out of the way! He said he had a quiet facility upstate. He was supposed to keep her fed and educated!"
"And why did she need to be kept out of the way?" Alexander demanded, taking another step forward. "Why did my daughter need to disappear, Victoria?"
Victoria swallowed hard, her eyes darting toward the locked master bedroom door and then back to her son. "Because of the Sterling Trust, Alexander! Your father left a stipulation in his will. If you produced an heir, the majority voting shares of the company transferred directly to the child upon their fifth birthday, with you as the proxy."
Alexander felt the pieces clicking together like a deadly puzzle. "You wanted control of the board."
"I built this company with your father!" Victoria shrieked, her entitlement flaring up once more. "I sacrificed my entire life for Sterling Enterprises! And he was going to hand the control over to a child? To you? No! If Sophia was deemed unfit, or if she simply vanished into the system, the proxy votes reverted to me!"
"So you colluded with Richard Vance," Alexander summarized, the absolute disgust in his voice thick enough to choke on. "You gave the man who tried to bankrupt our family the key to stealing it back. You gave him my daughter."
"I was protecting our legacy!" Victoria argued, tears of frustration streaming down her face.
"You are a monster," Alexander whispered. He walked over to the mahogany desk and picked up the telephone. He dialed the lobby security. "This is Alexander Sterling. My mother is coming down now. Escort her off the premises. If she sets foot on this property again, have her arrested for trespassing."
"You can't do this, Alexander!" Victoria yelled, rushing toward him. "If you expose this, the scandal will ruin the company! The stock will plummet!"
"I don't care if the company burns to ash," Alexander replied coldly, pointing toward the door. "Get out of my sight before I kill you myself."
Victoria looked at the murderous intent in her son's eyes and finally realized she had lost. She gathered her ruined evening gown and hurried out of the penthouse, the heavy doors slamming shut behind her.
Alexander stood alone in the silence of the living room for a long moment, gripping the edge of the desk until his knuckles turned white.
The master bedroom door clicked open. Thomas stepped out cautiously, leaving Dr. Aris inside with Sophia.
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"Alex," Thomas said quietly. "I heard everything. We have her confession on the room's security recording. It's over. We can put them both away."
"It's not over, Thomas," Alexander said, his voice dropping to a dangerous, terrifying calm. "If Victoria was paying Richard to keep Sophia upstate, how did my daughter end up in the alleyway of this hotel tonight?"
