Chapter 5 - Selina's Fall
While Flynn was being unceremoniously dumped onto the rainy pavement outside the corporate tower, his mistress was experiencing her own reckoning on the thirty-fifth floor.
Selina Brooks had arrived at Vance Global at 8:15 AM wearing a designer trench coat, dark sunglasses, and a smirk. She was convinced that Flynn would weather the storm, as he always had. In her mind, she was the real queen of Vance Global—the glamorous young muse who had captured the CEO's heart, while the frumpy housewife was cast aside.
She strutted toward the executive suite, her heels clicking loudly on the marble tiles.
“Morning, everyone,” she chirped casually to the administrative pool.
No one answered. The receptionist looked away with an expression of icy contempt.
When Selina reached the glass double doors of the executive suite, she pulled out her gold-plated keycard and tapped it against the scanner.
Beep. Red light.
She frowned, tapping it again. Beep. Red light.
“What is wrong with this stupid reader?” she muttered, violently smacking the plastic card against the scanner.
“The reader works perfectly, Ms. Brooks,” a voice came from behind her.
Selina turned around. Standing there was Samuel Vance-Sterling, flanked by two female corporate compliance officers and an investigator from the state attorney general's office.
Selina’s smirk faltered. “Who are you? Where is Flynn?”
“Mr. Vance has been permanently removed from the premises,” Samuel said crisply. “And you, Ms. Brooks, are currently the subject of an active criminal embezzlement investigation.”
Selina took a step backward, clutching her designer handbag against her stomach. “What? That's ridiculous! I’m the executive assistant! I don't handle company finances!”
“No, but you certainly received them,” the compliance officer replied, holding up an iPad showing certified wire transfer records. “Over the past twelve months, you personally accepted $420,000 in direct corporate wire transfers into your private account under the fraudulent label of 'Consulting Retainers.' Furthermore, Vance Global’s funds were used to purchase high-value luxury goods under false corporate pretenses.”
The investigator stepped forward, pulling a pair of white cotton inspection gloves out of his pocket.
“Ms. Brooks, we have a search and seizure warrant for all assets purchased using Vance Global corporate funds. Specifically, the item currently resting in your handbag.”
Selina turned white as a sheet. “My necklace? Flynn gave that to me! It was a gift!”
“It was purchased with corporate money stolen from Harrington Capital Apex,” Samuel said mercilessly. “In the eyes of the law, that is stolen property. If you do not hand it over immediately, you will be arrested on the spot for grand larceny and possession of stolen merchandise.”
“You can’t do this to me!” Selina shrieked, her voice echoing down the corridor as dozens of employees gathered to watch. “Flynn promised me! Flynn promised me he was going to divorce his boring wife and marry me! He told me this entire company would be ours!”
“Flynn lied to you,” Samuel said calmly. “Flynn owned less than ten percent of this company. And now, he owns nothing. Hand over the necklace, Ms. Brooks.”
Tears of humiliation and rage poured down Selina’s face, smearing her expensive eyeliner. Trembling violently, she reached into her bag, pulled out the velvet jeweler's case containing the $110,000 diamond necklace, and shoved it toward the investigator.
“There! Take your stupid rocks!” she sobbed.
“And your company phone,” the compliance officer added. “And your company credit cards. And the keys to the waterfront apartment at the Seaport. The locks were changed twenty minutes ago. Your personal clothes have been placed in storage.”
May you like
Selina stood in the middle of the hallway, stripped of her jewelry, her phone, her luxury apartment, and her prestige. The thirty employees who had endured her bullying and condescension for two years watched in total, satisfied silence as security escorted her to the freight elevator with nothing but her purse.
She had sold her youth and integrity to be the mistress of an emperor—only to discover that her emperor was nothing more than an indebted beggar wearing a stolen crown.
