Chapter 3 - Showroom Showdown
By eleven in the morning, Bennett Luxury Interiors on Michigan Avenue was humming with wealthy patrons browsing six-thousand-dollar velvet chaises and hand-carved dining sets. Richard was pacing in his glass-walled executive office on the second floor, downing antacids like candy while his head designer nervously reviewed textile invoices. "Where are the suppliers?!" Richard barked into his desk phone. "The Italian leather shipment was supposed to dock at noon! Why isn't the wire clearing?!"
"Because the treasury account bounced, Mr. Bennett," his accounting clerk whimpered from the doorway. "The logistics broker just suspended our credit line. They're threatening to hold fifty containers in port until we wire a hundred and twenty thousand in certified funds." Before Richard could scream at her, the frosted glass doors of the executive suite were pushed open. Two uniformed Cook County sheriff’s deputies stepped inside, followed by a process server wearing a nondescript navy suit. Behind them walked three stunned showroom customers who had stopped dead in their tracks.
"Richard Bennett?" the process server asked in a flat, clinical voice. Richard rose from his desk, puffing out his chest in a desperate display of bravado. "What is the meaning of this? You cannot barge into my private offices while I'm conducting business! Get out before I have security throw you onto Michigan Avenue!" The process server ignored his bluster, stepping forward and dropping two heavy envelopes directly onto Richard's custom Italian walnut desk. "You have been officially served with a petition for legal dissolution of marriage, an emergency restraining order, and a notice of default and acceleration on an eight-figure commercial note."
"What?!" Richard gasped, staring at the legal seal of the Illinois Circuit Court. Just then, Vanessa stormed into the office, holding a designer latte and waving her gold-plated car keys. "Richard, the boutique downtown just declined my corporate card! What kind of sick joke is—" She stopped abruptly as the two sheriff’s deputies turned toward her, unhooking pairs of handcuffs from their tactical belts.
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"Vanessa Bennett?" the female deputy asked, stepping between Vanessa and the doorway. Vanessa sneered, rolling her eyes with typical arrogance. "Yes, I am the Operations Director. If this is about a commercial dispute, talk to our legal team." The deputy didn't flinch. "Vanessa Bennett, you are under arrest for aggravated battery and domestic assault causing bodily injury. Turn around and place your hands behind your back." The ceramic latte cup slipped from Vanessa’s manicured fingers, shattering across the white wool rug, splashing brown foam across her silk trousers.
"Richard! Do something!" Vanessa shrieked as the cold steel cuffs clicked tightly around her wrists. "Tell them who we are! Richard!" Richard lunged forward, but the second deputy held up a warning hand. "Interfering with an officer is a felony, sir. Step back right now." Across the glass partition, every single employee, salesman, and high-paying client was recording the scene on their smartphones. The golden illusion of the Bennett family was officially disintegrating before the world.
