Chapter 4 - The Eviction
The silence that followed was suffocating. Flynn looked like a drowning man grasping at broken driftwood.
“Mabel… honey,” Flynn began, his voice suddenly shifting into a sickly-sweet, desperate whine. He took a step toward me, holding out his palms in supplication. “Listen to me. We are partners. We are husband and wife. Clara needs her parents together! Think about our family! You can't let a minor corporate oversight destroy our marriage!”
“A minor corporate oversight?” Gregory Hayes, the CFO, snorted in sheer disgust. “Flynn, you committed felony wire fraud and corporate embezzlement. You’ve exposed every board member in this room to federal scrutiny!”
“Shut up, Gregory!” Flynn snapped desperately, before turning back to me. “Mabel, please. I was under so much stress. The market pressures… I lost my head! Selina threw herself at me! It was a moment of weakness!”
Before Flynn could take another step, the boardroom doors swung open again.
Two armed officers from the Boston Police Department entered, accompanied by four private corporate security guards wearing Vance Global security blazers.
Flynn whipped around. “What is the meaning of this? Security, remove these people!”
The head of security didn't even look at Flynn. He walked straight toward me and nodded respectfully. “Mrs. Harrington, the perimeter has been secured. All access cards belonging to Mr. Vance and Ms. Brooks have been deactivated.”
Flynn staggered backward. “You… you’re locking me out? This is my company!”
“It was never your company,” Samuel Vance-Sterling said evenly, sliding a formal board resolution across the table. “By unanimous consent of the majority voting trustee, effective at 8:00 AM this morning, Flynn Vance has been terminated as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Vance Global for gross misconduct and moral turpitude. All stock options granted under your executive contract are immediately revoked under the bad-faith clause.”
“You can’t do that!” Flynn screamed, his face turning an apoplectic purple. “I built this name! My name is on the building!”
“And the sign will be taken down by noon,” I said calmly. “Officers, please escort Mr. Vance off the premises. If he steps foot on any Vance Global property again without legal representation, have him arrested for criminal trespassing.”
The two police officers stepped forward. One of them, a burly sergeant, placed a firm hand on Flynn’s shoulder. “Let’s go, sir. Don't make this harder on yourself.”
“Don't touch me! Get your hands off me!” Flynn thrashed, but the officer firmly gripped his arm, guiding him backward toward the corridor.
As Flynn was dragged backward through the glass doors, he locked eyes with me, his face twisted in pure, unadulterated hatred. “You think you won, Mabel? You’re a pathetic housewife! You can’t run this company! Without me, Vance Global will collapse into bankruptcy within thirty days! You will come crawling back to me on your knees!”
“I wouldn't crawl to you if you were the last man on earth, Flynn,” I replied. “Oh, and one more thing.”
I pulled a legal folder from my briefcase and handed it to the second officer.
“That is an emergency protective order and an eviction notice for our residence in Wellesley. The house is held in a real estate trust owned entirely by Harrington Capital. Flynn’s personal belongings have already been packed into three cardboard boxes and placed on the curb. If he approaches within five hundred feet of me or Clara, he will be in violation of a court order.”
Flynn stared at the paper in horror. “My house? My clothes? You kicked me out of my own house?!”
“It was never your house,” I said with a cold, steady gaze. “Have a nice life, Flynn.”
The elevator doors closed, cutting off his muffled screams of rage.
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I turned back to the remaining board members, whose expressions were a mixture of awe, relief, and profound respect.
“Gentlemen,” I said, taking my seat at the head of the table and folding my hands. “Now that the garbage has been cleared from the room, let us begin our emergency restructuring. Gregory, open the Q3 balance sheet. We have work to do.”
