Chapter 5 - The Gathering Storm
Down in the lobby of the Mercer Development headquarters, chaos had already taken complete control of the executive offices.
Barbara Mercer was pacing hysterically across the marble floor, shouting into her cell phone at three different bank directors who refused to take her calls.
"What do you mean the payroll account is frozen?!" she screamed into the receiver.
"We have two hundred subcontractors waiting on direct deposits tomorrow morning!"
"Mrs. Mercer, the federal freeze order originated from the Treasury division," the branch manager answered over the speaker before disconnecting abruptly.
The elevator doors chimed, and Daniel stumbled into the reception area with Lauren trailing behind him in tears.
Both of them were carrying their personal belongings in plastic grocery bags, looking disheveled and frantic.
"Mom!" Daniel yelled, running toward his mother's desk.
"They kicked us out! They changed the locks on the penthouse!"
Barbara looked at her son’s pathetic state and felt a cold claw of dread dig deep into her chest.
"Daniel... tell me you didn't forge Evelyn’s grandmother’s signature on the mezzanine expansion bonds."
Daniel froze, his eyes darting toward the floor like a guilty child caught red-handed.
"Dad told me to do it! Back when the project in Naperville stalled! He said it was just family money anyway!"
"You fool!" Barbara shrieked, slapping Daniel across the face with enough force to turn his cheek crimson.
"Julian Vance isn't just an investor, you idiot! His family created the maritime and real estate empire that gave our family our first loan forty years ago!"
Ryan Whitmore stepped out of the accounting office, carrying his coat and a cardboard box filled with his personal desk items.
"Ryan!" Daniel turned toward him, his voice trembling with desperation.
"Call your sister! Tell her to call off Vance! Tell her we’ll renegotiate the condo! We’ll give her ten percent of the suburban rentals!"
Ryan stopped near the revolving exit doors, looking at his former brother-in-law with pure, unvarnished contempt.
"Evelyn paid my college tuition out of her own pocket, Daniel," Ryan said quietly, his voice heavy with self-loathing.
"I stayed silent because you promised me an executive vice president role. But watching you hand that woman the keys to my sister’s house made me sick to my stomach."
"Ryan, we're family!" Barbara pleaded, reaching out a manicured hand toward him.
"We were never family, Barbara," Ryan replied, shaking his head as he stepped toward the door.
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"You treated my mother like a peasant, and you treated my sister like an unpaid maid. Have fun explaining your accounting tricks to the grand jury."
Ryan pushed through the glass doors into the cold rain, leaving the Mercer family alone in their rapidly emptying building.
