Elias rướn người (leaned forward) slightly, his dark eyes locking onto the dark lenses of her sunglasses. He raised his right hand, not in a fist, but in a gesture of absolute, unyielding condemnation. He pointed at her, his voice dropping into a low, gravelly baritone that vibrated with raw power.
"You destroyed my property with forged papers," Elias said, his words striking like hammer blows against a chisel. "That wasn't a victory, it was a crime."
Victoria flinched slightly at the word 'forged.' For a fraction of a second, the arrogant facade cracked. How could he possibly know? She had paid top dollar to ensure the demolition order looked authentic. But her ego quickly rushed in to repair the crack. She was the president of Silver Ridge; she was untouchable. She scoffed, tilting her head and offering a condescending smirk.
"You think a few videos and old documents can beat me?" Victoria sneered, waving the manila folder dismissively.
Elias didn't blink. He stared right through her sunglasses, piercing the hollow core of her arrogance. He lowered his hand, his posture settling into the quiet, terrifying stillness of a man who knew he had already won the war.
"No," Elias replied softly, his voice echoing with absolute certainty. "I think the truth will."
Elias didn't sign the papers. He didn't say another word to Victoria. He turned his back on her, got into his truck, and drove directly to the FBI field office in the city.
While Victoria had been busy bribing a low-level municipal clerk to forge a demolition permit, she had completely ignored the federal protections on Elias’s property. Because his grandfather had built the house using locally sourced materials and it had stood for over a century, the cottage was listed on a federal registry of historic structures. Furthermore, Elias had installed a discreet, solar-powered security system that backed up directly to a secure cloud server—a system that had recorded Victoria handing an envelope of cash to the demolition foreman just before the wrecking ball swung.