Chapter 5 - The Corporate Audit
While the bridal suite dissolved into shrieks of hysterical weeping and desperate, flailing recriminations, a very different kind of meeting was taking place in the resort’s executive boardroom downstairs.
I sat comfortably in my motorized medical wheelchair, wearing a sharp navy blue blazer and crisp slacks, with my fiberglass cast elevated on a specialized leg rest. Beside me sat Vesper Vance, my mentor and boss, flanked by two corporate attorneys from Vance & Associates. Across the mahogany table sat my father, Stellin, and our family accountant, looking thoroughly bewildered and increasingly terrified.
The heavy mahogany doors swung open, and Maya walked in, carrying a stack of certified financial documents, followed closely by the resort’s general manager.
"Mr. and Mrs. Vance," the general manager said coldly, addressing my father. "We have received formal notification from Vance & Associates regarding unauthorized credit card charges and corporate identity theft committed on resort property yesterday afternoon."
My father stood up so fast his chair screeched loudly against the polished wood floor. "This is a ridiculous misunderstanding! Fallon is our daughter! She authorized us to use her corporate account for family expenses! It’s a family wedding, for God's sake!"
"Mr. Vance," one of the corporate attorneys interrupted smoothly, sliding a certified document across the table. "Under federal law, using a corporate black card for non-business-related luxury expenses—specifically open bars, helicopter charters, and private brunch receptions for a wedding you are not employed by—constitutes grand larceny and corporate fraud. Furthermore, forensic handwriting analysis confirms that the signature on this authorization form was forged by Althia Vance."
Stellin’s face drained of all color. He sank back down into his chair, his hands trembling as he stared at the papers. "This... this will ruin us. The social registry, our business associates, our standing in the community..."
"Your social standing should have been the least of your concerns when you watched your oldest daughter get shoved down a marble staircase and left for dead," Vesper growled, leaning forward over the table, his eyes blazing with cold fury.
I slowly wheeled myself forward, my voice cutting through the heavy silence of the boardroom like a scalpel.
"You thought you could break me, Dad," I said quietly, looking directly into my father's panicked eyes. "You thought that because I was in a wheelchair, because I was recovering from an injury while working my tail off to build an honest career, I would just sit down and take your abuse forever. You thought Sutton could walk all over me—literally—and I would smile and apologize for ruining her aesthetic."
Stellin swallowed hard, his voice barely a whisper. "Fallon... please. We're your family. Drop the charges. Let's settle this quietly. Your mother is a wreck, and Sutton is hysterical."
"My family?" I echoed, letting out a sharp, humorless laugh. "My family didn't call an ambulance when my leg snapped. My family tried to bankrupt me while I was on an operating table. My family is sitting right across this table, and they are about to learn a very expensive lesson in accountability."
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I turned to Vesper and nodded. "File the criminal charges for corporate fraud and grand larceny against Althia and Stellin Vance immediately. And initiate the civil lawsuit for personal injury and intentional infliction of emotional distress against Sutton."
The general manager of the resort nodded solemnly. "The resort will fully cooperate with the authorities, Fallon. In fact, security is already escorting your parents and sister off the premises."
