Chapter 14: The Inside Job
Chapter 14: The Inside Job
The corporate coup was only a distraction. While Robert was being publicly humiliated and escorted out of the Vanderbilt Tower in front of a swarm of paparazzi, Liam was already moving on to the final phase of the plan.
He didn't stay in Manhattan. While the media focused on the boardroom drama, Liam slipped out through the underground parking garage, got into a discreet rental car, and drove two hours east toward the Hamptons.
The sprawling oceanfront estate was eerily quiet. With Robert in the city dealing with the fallout and Eleanor cooperating with the authorities in a separate location, the house was mostly empty, save for a skeleton crew of private security.
Liam parked his car a mile down the private road, walking the rest of the way through the salt-sprayed dunes. He knew the blind spots in the camera system perfectly; he had spent his teenage years sneaking out of this exact property. He bypassed the perimeter gate, slipping through the side entrance of the conservatory.
The silence inside the house was oppressive. It was a museum of stolen wealth. Liam moved quickly and silently, taking the back stairs two at a time until he reached Robert's private study.
The heavy mahogany door was locked, but Liam pulled a master key from his pocket—one he had never returned when Robert suspended him. He pushed the door open. The room smelled of expensive scotch, leather, and cigar smoke.
Liam went straight to the massive Persian rug in the center of the room, rolling it back to reveal the polished hardwood floor. He knelt, pressing his hand against a specific floorboard. It clicked, sliding away to reveal a state-of-the-art biometric scanner.
He uses it for his most sensitive off-the-books leverage.
Liam took a deep breath. Robert had set up this safe ten years ago. At the time, Liam was being groomed as the perfect heir. Robert had added Liam’s fingerprints to the scanner as a "rite of passage," ensuring that if anything happened to Robert, his son could access the family's darkest secrets. It was a twisted display of trust.
Liam pressed his thumb to the glowing green glass.
Scanning...
The machine whirred softly. For a terrifying second, Liam thought Robert might have wiped his access.
Access Granted.
The heavy steel hatch popped open with a hiss of pressurized air. Liam reached inside, pulling out a stack of red, accordion-style folders. He flipped through them frantically. Offshore accounts. Payoffs to local politicians. Bribes to port authorities.
And then, at the very bottom, a faded manila envelope labeled MILLER - 1999.
Liam ripped it open. Inside was the original contract, complete with the extortionate language and the brutal non-disclosure agreement forced upon Maya’s parents. It also contained the original birth certificate of a baby boy born to a waitress named Sarah Jenkins. His birth certificate.
"I see you found what you were looking for."
May you like
Liam froze. The blood turned to ice in his veins. He slowly stood up, turning to face the doorway.
Robert Vanderbilt stood there, silhouetted against the hallway lights. He was breathing heavily, his tie undone, and in his right hand, he held a black, heavy-barreled revolver.
