Bound to a Tycoon

Chapter 3: The First Move

The hospital lobby had emptied. Only the night shift remained a tired nurse at the reception desk, a security guard near the entrance, the distant hum of machines somewhere above.

Bianca sat in the waiting area, her mother finally asleep in Room 814. She should have left hours ago. Instead, she sat frozen, staring at the envelope in her hands.

When you're ready to save your family, call me. Elliot Vance

No phone number. No business card. Nothing else.

As if he already knew she would find him.

She slipped the paper back into the envelope and stood. The movement felt mechanical, detached from her body. Her legs carried her toward the exit, but her mind remained trapped in the waiting room, replaying the legal adviser's words.

He said you wouldn't walk away.

Outside, the rain had stopped. The streets glistened under the streetlights. A black car sat at the curb not her driver's car, not the family car. Something else. Something waiting.

The rear window rolled down.

Elliot Vance's legal adviser sat in the back seat. He didn't smile. He looked at her, calm and patient, as if he had all the time in the world.

"Miss Sterling," he said. "Get in."

Bianca didn't move. "I have nothing to say to you."

"Mr. Vance thought you might feel that way." He reached for the door handle. "So he asked me to give you this."

He handed her a single photograph.

Bianca looked at it. Her chest tightened. It was a picture of her mother taken earlier that day, from across the street. Mrs. Sterling sat by the window in Room 814, her face pale but peaceful.

"How did you get this?"

The legal adviser's expression remained unchanged. "Mr. Vance wants you to understand something. He's not your enemy."

"Then what is he?"

"He's the only person who can save your family."

She stared at him. "You expect me to believe that?"

"I expect you to think about it." He leaned back in his seat. "The offer stands, Miss Sterling. When you're ready to stop losing, you know where to find us."

The window rolled up. The car pulled away.

Bianca stood alone on the sidewalk, the photograph still in her hand.

Sterling Manor was dark when she arrived. Only the study light remained on.

Richard sat at his desk, surrounded by papers. He looked up when she entered. His eyes were red-rimmed, and she realized with a start that he had been crying.

"Dad?"

He tried to smile. "How's your mother?"

"Asleep." She set the envelope and photograph on the desk. "I need to ask you something."

Richard looked at the photograph. His face went pale. "Where did you get this?"

"Elliot Vance's legal adviser. He was waiting for me outside the hospital."

Richard closed his eyes. "What did he want?"

"He said Elliot Vance is the only person who can save our family."

Silence filled the room. The grandfather clock ticked in the distance.

Finally, Richard spoke. "He's right."

Bianca stared at him. "What?"

Richard pushed back from his desk. "I've spent the last three weeks calling everyone I know. Every banker. Every investor. Every friend I thought I could count on." He looked at her, his eyes filled with defeat. "No one will help us."

"Then we find someone else."

"There is no one else." His voice cracked. "Elliot Vance made sure of that. He's been buying our debts for months. He's been isolating us for years. Every door I try to open, he's already locked. Every hand I reach for, he's already turned away."

Bianca sat down across from him. "Why? What did you do to him?"

Richard was silent for a long moment. "His father was my partner. We built Sterling Holdings together. But James Vance was…" He paused. "He was a gambler. He hid debts, made deals without telling me. When I found out, I forced him out of the company."

"That doesn't seem like something to destroy a family over."

"It wasn't." Richard's voice dropped to barely a whisper. "After I forced him out, he tried to sue me. He lost everything trying to fight me. And then…" He closed his eyes. "He killed himself."

Bianca felt the words hit like a physical blow. "Oh my God."

"He left a note. He blamed me." Richard's hands trembled on the desk. "I didn't know he was going to do it. I just wanted him out of the company. I didn't think"

"Dad." She reached across the desk. "It wasn't your fault."

Richard looked at her. "I know that. But his son doesn't."

"And now he wants revenge."

"He wants everything." Richard's voice was hollow. "He wants to take everything we have. Everything my father and I built. He wants to watch us lose it all."

Bianca sat in silence. The weight of the truth pressed down on her.

"He'll keep coming," Richard continued. "He won't stop until we have nothing left."

"Then we don't let him win."

Richard looked at her. "You don't understand. He's already won."

"No." She squeezed his hand. "We still have each other. We still have Mom. As long as we have that, we haven't lost."

Richard stared at her for a long moment. Then, slowly, he nodded. "You sound like your mother."

"Because she taught me to fight."

Across the city, the top floor of Vance International was bathed in shadows. Only one light burned the lamp on Elliot Vance's desk.

He stood at the window, staring down at the city. Fifteen years of planning, and it was all coming together.

His legal adviser entered. "I delivered the photograph."

"And?"

"She took it."

"Good."

"She also asked about her mother's treatment."

Elliot turned from the window. "And?"

"I told her the truth. The treatment is suspended until payment is received."

Elliot nodded slowly. "What else?"

"She asked why you were doing this."

"And what did you tell her?"

"Nothing. I thought it was your place."

Elliot turned back toward the window. "Richard Sterling built his fortune on my father's suicide. Now he's going to lose everything."

"Everything?"

"Everything." Elliot's voice was cold. "The company. The house. His wife's treatment. His daughter's future. Everything."

The legal adviser hesitated. "And Bianca Sterling?"

Elliot was silent. "What about her?"

"She didn't do anything. She was a child when this happened."

"I know." Elliot's jaw tightened. "But she's his weakness. And I need him to understand what it feels like to lose someone you love."

"She's innocent."

"I know." He turned away from the window. "When this is over, she'll be fine. Her mother is innocent too. I'm not going to let her die. But Richard Sterling doesn't need to know that."

The legal adviser nodded slowly. "This ends on your terms."

"Yes." Elliot looked out at the city. "This ends when he has nothing left."

The morning light crept through the curtains of Sterling Manor. Bianca hadn't slept. She'd spent the night in her father's study, reading through papers, trying to understand.

No loans. No investors. No way out.

But she had seen something in the documents. A pattern. Every major creditor had sold their debt to the same company Vance International Holdings. And every sale has happened in the last three months.

This wasn't random. This was orchestrated.

Her phone buzzed. Unknown Number.

She answered. "Hello?"

"Miss Sterling." The voice was calm, measured the same voice she'd heard at the hospital. "Mr. Vance would like to meet with you."

"I already told you"

"This isn't an offer. It's an invitation." The legal adviser paused. "There are things your father hasn't told you. About his past. About what really happened."

Bianca's grip tightened on the phone. "What are you talking about?"

"Ask him about the night James Vance died. Ask him what he was doing when he got the news."

The line went dead.

Bianca stared at the phone. Her father's words from the night before echoed in her mind.

He left a note. He blamed me.

But something in the legal adviser's voice made her wonder what if there was more to the story?

She walked to the study. Richard was asleep at his desk, his head resting on his arms. She gently touched his shoulder.

"Dad?"

He stirred. "What is it?"

"I need to ask you something."

He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes. "What is it?"

"James Vance's death." Bianca watched his face carefully. "When you got the news, where were you?"

Richard's hand stilled. "Why are you asking that?"

"Because someone just told me there's more to the story."

He looked at her, his eyes suddenly sharp. "Who?"

"Elliot Vance's legal adviser. He called me. He said I should ask you what you were doing that night."

Richard's face went pale. "He's lying."

"Then tell me the truth."

Silence stretched between them. The grandfather clock ticked in the distance.

Finally, Richard spoke. "I was there."

Bianca felt the floor shift beneath her. "What?"

"The night James died, I went to see him. I wanted to talk. To try and make things right." He looked down at his hands. "He was drunk. Angry. We argued. I left."

"And then?"

"And then he killed himself." Richard's voice was barely a whisper. "But I wasn't the one who made him do it."

"How do you know?"

"Because he was already dead when I arrived."

Bianca stared at him. "What?"

Richard met her eyes. "I found him. I was the one who found the body. The police came. They asked questions. They ruled it a suicide." He paused. "But Elliot never believed that. He's spent fifteen years thinking I killed his father."

"But you didn't."

"No." His voice caught. "I found him, Bianca. I found my best friend dead in his own home. And I've spent fifteen years carrying that image with me."

Bianca sat down heavily. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't want you to see me like that. Broken. Haunted." He reached for her hand. "I should have told you the truth. I should have told Elliot the truth. But I was a coward, and now"

"Now it's too late?"

Richard didn't answer.

The grandfather clock continued to tick.

Outside the window, a black car sat across the street.

Inside, Elliot Vance's legal adviser watched the manor through a pair of binoculars. He spoke quietly into his phone.

"She knows."

Elliot's voice came through the speaker. "How much?"

"I don't know. She asked her father about the night of the death."

"And?"

"There was an argument. He admitted he was there."

Elliot was silent for a moment. Then he spoke, his voice cold. "Good."

"She suspects there's more to the story. But she doesn't know everything yet."

"She will." Elliot's voice was quiet. "One day, she will."