The ceasefire ended at dawn. A courier arrived at the main gate, serving papers not to William, but to the estate itself.
Dante Ricci had made his move.
“He’s frozen the assets,” Malcolm announced to the room, reading the injunction. “Ricci is arguing that since ‘Victoria Vance’ is the primary asset of the music catalog, and her legal status is in question due to the faked death, all Croft accounts associated with the label are frozen pending a competency hearing.”
“He can’t do that,” Marcus Thorne snapped, stepping forward as the “Protector”. “She isn’t an asset. She’s a human being.”
“To Ricci, she’s a stock ticker,” Malcolm countered coldly. He snapped his briefcase shut. “But Ricci made a mistake. He assumed we would play defense. I intend to burn his claim to the ground.”
William looked at Malcolm, seeing the ruthlessness he lacked. For the first time, he realized that this stranger with his face wasn’t just an ally–he was a weapon that might cut both ways. The “Legal War” had begun.