Chapter 5 - Shattered Glass
Julian lunged out of his seat, knocking over his silver ice bucket, but the security team shoved him back into his chair. His tuxedo was disheveled, sweat pouring down his forehead, ruining the polished image he had cultivated for years.
""It's a setup!"" Julian screamed, his voice cracking into hysterics as the titans of industry around him recoiled in disgust. ""She fabricated those documents! She's mentally unstable! I have the medical reports right here! Call the police! She belongs in a sanitarium!""
He ripped a folder of papers from his inside coat pocket, waving them frantically in the air like a madman trying to ward off a storm. Evelyn joined in, shrieking across the ballroom, ""She's insane! My son saved her from poverty! She used to wear rags! She's trying to destroy my boy!""
The chief executive of Manhattan National Bank, seated at the table directly behind them, stood up with absolute disgust on his face. ""Be quiet, Evelyn. That is Clara Sterling of the Hudson Sterling family. Her grandfather built the bridge your son's trucks drive across every morning. You make a fool of yourself.""
I gestured to the technician, and a crisp, perfectly recorded audio file played through the state-of-the-art surround sound speakers.
Julian’s recorded voice echoed through the high-ceilinged room with crystal clarity: “Clara never questions anything. She trusts me like a fool. With the right lawyers, we'll control everything. We get her declared mentally unfit during the divorce, and the marital assets belong to us.”
Then Victoria’s voice followed, mocking and spiteful: “She actually believes you're working late at the office while we're in St. Barts. Make sure the doctor prescribes heavy sedatives so she doesn't cause a scene when the movers arrive.”
The ballroom was so quiet you could hear the ice melting in the glasses. Every woman at the surrounding tables stared at Victoria with unadulterated venom. The PR director slumped forward, burying her head on the linen tablecloth, sobbing uncontrollably as her professional career, social standing, and freedom vanished into thin air.
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""As of eight o'clock this evening,"" I stated calmly, ""Sterling Investment Group exercised its contractual right of debt acceleration. Vance Enterprises is in total commercial default. All corporate credit facilities are frozen, the board of directors has been dismantled by court injunction, and federal authorities have been provided with the complete financial paper trail.""
I clicked the remote once more, revealing the final slide: a formal notice of criminal indictment and emergency divorce proceedings served directly to Julian Vance's name.
