Chapter 5

Charlotte Vance's POV

At ten o'clock the next morning, inside a signless, members-only club in Lower Manhattan.

Harrison Croft sat behind a red sandalwood tea table, clad in a perfectly tailored dark suit. His deep, cold eyes exuded the formidable aura of someone accustomed to being at the very top.

The moment I pushed the door open, I seemed to catch a fleeting glimpse of restrained sorrow in his eyes before it instantly vanished.

"You've lost weight," Harrison said, his voice deep and slightly raspy.

Bypassing any pleasantries, I walked straight over and sat opposite him, my pale face devoid of any emotion. "Mr. Croft, I need your help. I want to ruin Julian Sterling and Chloe Somerset in the shortest time possible, leaving them with absolutely nothing."

Looking at my resolute gaze, Harrison didn't ask why. He simply pulled a thick black folder from the briefcase beside him and pushed it toward me.

"I've been waiting for you to come to me. I've waited for so long that I thought you truly intended to spend the rest of your life in that trash heap."

I opened the folder, my pupils shrinking instantly.

Inside, there were not only the split contracts of Julian Sterling and Chloe Somerset's tax evasion over the years, but also Chloe's dirt regarding her trading favors for capital backing and suppressing her peers. There was even a detailed bank history of the two of them secretly transferring assets under my name.

Harrison had gathered information far more comprehensive and lethal than I could have ever imagined.

"You knew all along?" I looked up at him.

"I found out three years ago," Harrison met my gaze without evasion. "But I couldn't give it to you. Back then, your eyes were filled only with him. If I had laid this in front of you, you would have only thought I was trying to drive a wedge between you two."

I let out a bitter laugh. Yes, how blind I had been—blind enough to go against Harrison Croft, the biggest capital tycoon in the industry, all for Julian's sake.

"This is an equity transfer and asset management authorization document," Harrison handed over another document. "Sign it. Within seven days, I will complete the liquidation of all assets under your name related to Julian Sterling. Every single penny he took from you, I will make him spit back out with interest."

I signed my name without the slightest hesitation.

Pausing my pen, I said softly, "Thank you, Harrison."

"Between you and me, you never need to say those words." Harrison gave me a deep look, then neatly put the documents away.

As I was leaving the club, I ran into someone unexpected at the elevator doors in the underground garage—Chloe Somerset.

Chloe wasn't wearing one of her usual figure-hugging haute couture gowns today. Instead, she was dressed in a loose cotton dress and flat shoes.

Seeing me, she first covered her mouth in feigned surprise, then walked over with a beaming smile.

"Ms. Vance, what a coincidence! The privacy here at this club is so good—I specifically arranged to meet a foreign specialist here for a prenatal checkup." As Chloe spoke, she deliberately caressed her still-flat abdomen, her eyes brimming with the smug defiance of a victor.