Chapter 4The Heiress's Ultimatum

William Prescott Sr. stood in the doorway.

Behind him was a small army of people.

The Prescott estate manager.

Corporate lawyers.

And a heavily armed security detail.

The room was dead silent.

The smirks on the faces of Nathaniel's friends froze entirely.

Nathaniel stood paralyzed.

His Adam's apple bobbed.

"Grandpa..."

William raised his cane and slammed it against the floor.

"Don't you call me Grandpa!"

"How did the Prescott family raise such a repulsive beast?!"

Nathaniel turned deathly pale.

He instinctively glanced toward Vanessa.

Vanessa was clutching her child, trembling like a leaf, looking for a place to hide.

But the exit was blocked.

She had nowhere to go.

William walked into the room.

With every step, his cane striking the marble sounded like a hammer hitting an anvil.

He looked at me first.

I was still sitting on the floor.

My forehead was bleeding.

My cheek burned with pain.

Mr. Hayes broke free from his captors and rushed to my side.

"Ms. Sinclair!"

His hands shook as he helped me up.

"Are you okay?"

I shook my head.

"I'm fine."

It hurt.

But more than the pain, I felt pure disgust.

William's eyes darkened when he saw the injuries on my face.

He turned to Nathaniel.

"Is this your idea of a corporate merger?"

"Is this the respect you show the Sinclair family?"

Nathaniel panicked.

"Grandpa, it's not like that."

"Eleanor was the one making a scene! She threatened to go to you and cancel the engagement, I was just trying to stop her in a panic..."

William sneered.

"In a panic?"

"So you ordered the doors locked."

"You had your bodyguards restrain the Sinclair heiress."

"And you pointed a camera at her?"

"Nathaniel, do you think I've gone senile?"

Nathaniel's lips went white.

"I didn't actually intend to hurt her."

He looked at me desperately.

"Eleanor, I was just trying to scare you."

"I wasn't really going to do anything."

I looked at him.

My stomach churned.

"Scare me?"

"Nathaniel, if Mr. Prescott hadn't arrived in time, how far were you planning to take that 'scare'?"

He opened his mouth.

But couldn't form a response.

The eyes of everyone in the room were on him.

His cronies were dead quiet.

Tyler Vance quietly took a step back.

William swept his gaze over them.

His voice was terrifyingly cold.

"Who was it just now who said women need to learn a lesson to know how to behave?"

Those boys' faces turned white as sheets.

Nobody dared to make a sound.

William asked again:

"What, cat got your tongues now?"

Tyler Vance broke first.

"Mr. Prescott, I was just making a bad joke."

"I didn't think Nate would actually..."

William cut him off.

"You didn't think?"

"Weren't you all enjoying the show immensely?"

He turned to his estate manager.

"Copy the security footage from this hall and the video they were recording."

"Send a copy to the Vance, Brooks, and Caldwell families."

"Let them see exactly how their precious sons conduct themselves."

The color entirely left those boys' faces.

"Mr. Prescott!"

"Please don't!"

"We just had too much to drink!"

William didn't even look at them.

"Being drunk gives you a pass to act like accomplices to a crime?"

"Then stop drinking permanently."

As soon as he finished speaking, the police officers who had arrived with him stepped forward.

"Mr. Nathaniel Prescott, please come with us."

Nathaniel's head snapped up.

"For what?!"

The officer was expressionless.

"Attempted false imprisonment, assault, and making terroristic threats."

"We need you down at the precinct for questioning."

Nathaniel finally lost his composure completely.

"Grandpa!"

"I am the heir to the Prescott empire!"

"You can't let them take me!"

William looked at him without a shred of sympathy.

"As of today, you are no longer the heir."

That single sentence.

Like a guillotine.

It cleanly severed Nathaniel's final lifeline.

He froze.

Even Vanessa jerked her head up to look at him.

Nathaniel's voice shook.

"Grandpa, what did you say?"

William enunciated every word:

"The Prescott empire will not be handed over to a moron."

"Especially not one who sacrifices our corporate bottom lines for a mistress and an illegitimate child."

"Since you value your 'true love' so much, you can go be with her out on the streets."

"There is no place for you in the Prescott family anymore."

Nathaniel's eyes turned red.

"Grandpa, you raised and trained me yourself!"

"You can't discard me just because of a few words from Eleanor Sinclair!"

William scoffed.

"You think this is just because of her?"

He raised his hand.

A lawyer immediately handed him a stack of folders.

William threw them at Nathaniel's feet.

"Take a good look."

"All the dirty deals you've been running behind my back for the last few years—did you think any of them could withstand an audit?"

Nathaniel's face turned ashen.

He bent down and picked up the files.

After just two pages, his hands began to shake.

I wasn't close.

But I could see the bolded headings.

Offshore accounts.

Embezzled project funds.

Shell companies.

Capital flight.

And one specific document.

The purchase record for Vanessa Miller's luxury condo.

The funds came directly from a Prescott subsidiary.

The room erupted in gasps.

Vanessa's face was chalk white, her grip on her child loosening.

William turned to her.

"Ms. Miller."

"You repeatedly claimed you wanted nothing from us."

"But the three luxury condos, the two sports cars, and the offshore bank accounts in your name... where did they come from?"

Vanessa's lips trembled.

"I... I don't know."

"Nate gave them to me."

"I didn't know the money belonged to the corporation."

William said flatly:

"You can tell that to the police."

Vanessa's legs gave out.

She almost collapsed to her knees.

She looked at Nathaniel, crying.

"Nate, explain it to them."

"I didn't know the money was dirty. You told me it was your personal funds!"

Nathaniel glared at her.

Resentment flashing in his eyes for the first time.

"Now you're trying to distance yourself?"

"You didn't ask any questions when you were spending it!"

All the blood drained from Vanessa's face.

The child, terrified, started crying loudly.

"Daddy, Mommy..."

That crying made everyone in the room grimace.

Nathaniel seemed to grasp at his last straw.

He picked up the child and walked toward William.

"Grandpa."

"Oliver is innocent."

"He's your great-grandson."

"Even if you don't care about me anymore, for the child's sake..."

William looked at the boy.

A complex emotion flashed in his eyes.

But it quickly hardened back to ice.

"The child is innocent."

"The adults are not."

"Today you used a child as leverage."

"Tomorrow you'd gamble the entire Prescott empire."

"Nathaniel, you are beyond saving."

Nathaniel tried to speak again.

But the police had already grabbed his arms.

This time, he didn't fight back.

Just before he was led away, he shot me a venomous glare.

"Eleanor, are you happy now?"

I reached up and wiped the dried blood from my forehead.

My voice was completely calm.

"Why would I be happy?"

"I just got the justice I was owed."

He was taken away.

Vanessa was also escorted out for questioning.

The child was temporarily taken by the Prescott estate manager.

The room was a chaotic mess.

The people who had been enjoying the show earlier were all staring at the floor.

Not a single one dared to utter a word.

William walked over to me.

He was old.

But his gaze was as sharp as an eagle's.

"Eleanor."

"Today was a failure on the Prescott family's part."

"I will personally visit the Sinclair estate to offer my formal apologies."

I looked at him.

I didn't respond immediately.

If it were the old me, I probably would have considered the bigger picture.

After all, a corporate merger isn't a petty squabble.

But today, I was almost ruined.

I wasn't going to cover for anyone anymore.

I said:

"Mr. Prescott."

"You can discuss apologies with my father."

"But the engagement between Nathaniel and me must be formally canceled."

William nodded.

"As it should be."

He paused, then added:

"There is more than just Nathaniel in his generation of the Prescott family."

"If the Sinclairs are still willing to partner..."

I cut him off.

"Mr. Prescott."

"I don't want to discuss corporate marriages right now."

"I just want to go home."

William looked at me for a few seconds.

Finally, he sighed.

"Very well."

"Go home."

"The Prescott family will ensure you receive a proper explanation."