Chapter 5 - Evicted In Front Of Everyone
Allison turned on Grant in an instant, her eyes blazing with sudden terror and rage. What is he talking about? You told me your hedge fund had forty million in committed assets! You told me you were taking me to New York next week to open our private firm! Did you lie to me? Did you use me to get inside Daniel's company? Grant frantically waved his hands, his face red and beaded with perspiration. Allison, shut up! Don't say another word without a lawyer! He's bluffing! He's just trying to turn us against each other because he's bitter that you walked away from him!
Daniel did not raise his voice. He simply pressed a small intercom button on the polished console in front of him. Security, please send in Officers Miller and Harris, Daniel instructed quietly. The boardroom doors swung open immediately, revealing two uniformed police officers alongside the director of building security. Allison let out a sharp gasp, instinctively backing away from the door as the officers stepped forward, their official badges catching the overhead LED light. Daniel, what are you doing? she cried, tears finally spilling over her mascara. We're married! You can't have your own wife arrested! This is a private matter!
This ceased to be a private matter the moment you hired an unauthorized moving crew to strip private real estate and attempted to embezzle commercial reserves, Arthur Vance declared, stepping forward with signed affidavits. Furthermore, Officers Miller and Harris are not here for the corporate fraud just yet. They are here regarding the ongoing criminal complaint filed this morning by Mercer Hospitality Group regarding unauthorized occupancy and intentional property damage at the Halcyon Hotel.
Grant looked like he was about to vomit. Property damage? What are you talking about? We stayed in the presidential suite! We didn't damage anything! The hotel director stepped into the room, holding an iPad displaying live surveillance and security footage from the Halcyon's top floor. Mr. Sterling, when your companion's card was declined at 6:00 AM following our midnight fraud freeze, hotel security locked out the suite elevator. Instead of contacting the front desk, you kicked open the emergency service door, damaging the electronic lock mechanism, and removed two bottles of rare reserve spirits from the suite bar without payment. That constitutes felony burglary of commercial property.
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Two additional hotel security guards entered the room holding Grant's personal luggage and the designer bags Allison had packed so carefully the afternoon before. In full view of the entire Mercer Global executive board, who had begun gathering in the outer hallway for the morning briefing, Grant's belongings were placed on the floor, tagged with formal eviction and trespass notices. You are formally banned from all Mercer Global properties, hotels, and managed commercial districts effective immediately, Daniel said, standing up from his chair.
Grant lunged toward the table in a desperate rage, his fists clenched as he cursed Daniel, but the two police officers swiftly intercepted him, twisting his arms behind his back and snapping cold metal handcuffs around his wrists. Allison covered her mouth, sobbing hysterically as her lover—the glamorous, wealthy visionary she had chosen over her devoted husband—was dragged out of the executive boardroom kicking and screaming, his designer shoes scuffing the marble floor while junior executives and office staff filmed the entire spectacle on their smartphones.
