Chapter 6 - The Bride’s Awakening

Olivia’s father, Richard Vance, pushed through the crowd, his face purple with outrage. Richard was a pragmatist who cared about two things: power and pedigree. He had backed David because David claimed to have proprietary enterprise patents and the backing of Hayes Capital. "Arthur, what is the meaning of this charade?" Richard barked, adjusting his wire-rimmed glasses. Arthur didn't even look at Richard; he simply nodded toward Emily. Emily met Richard’s furious gaze without blinking. "Mr. Vance, I believe your bank signed an underwriting agreement yesterday committing forty percent of your regional assets to guarantee Miller Cloud Solutions' leveraged buyout of the Omni network. Did David happen to mention that the Omni network already called in their default clause this morning at eight o'clock?" Richard gasped, clutching his chest as he whipped his head toward David. "You said the audit was clean! You swore the debt was covered by Hayes Capital!" David was trembling so violently that he dropped his boutineer. "It was! Arthur promised me the disbursement by Monday!" Emily smiled thinly. "I authorized the disbursement to be canceled thirty minutes ago, David, right after my legal team filed the paternity and retroactive child support petition with the county clerk." Olivia stared at David as though he were a stranger crawled out of a sewer. The expensive suit, the confident stride, the big promises—it was all hollow plaster built over quicksand. "You used my family’s name to back bad loans," Olivia said, her voice shaking with disgust. "You invited your ex-wife here to rub your fake success in her face, and you're broke?"