Chapter 7 - Evelyn's Desperate Gambit
Three days later, the Vance empire was in freefall.
The financial fallout was swift and merciless. Corporate sponsors of the Vance Foundation pulled their funding overnight. Bank of America and JPMorgan froze the family’s commercial credit lines after a federal grand jury subpoenaed the foundation’s accounting ledgers.
The public was demanding blood, and prosecutors were circling like sharks.
Evelyn Vance sat in the cavernous, empty library of the Armonk mansion. The house, once filled with high-society chatter, catering staff, and prestigious guests, felt like a mausoleum. The domestic staff had walked out after their checks bounced due to the asset freeze.
Marcus Sterling was pacing in front of the marble fireplace, his tie loosened, looking like a man facing the gallows.
"The forensic audit started this morning, Evelyn," Sterling said, his voice cracking with hysteria. "Do you understand what that means? They aren't just looking at the assault anymore. Victoria gave the federal prosecutors the complete financial map of Charles’s offshore trusts from 2018."
Evelyn glared at him through bloodshot eyes. "What are you talking about? Charles is dead! Those accounts are closed!"
"They weren't closed, Evelyn! We transferred eight million dollars from Victoria’s father's estate into Karen’s personal LLC to fund Ethan’s trust fund and pay for the Hamptons property! That money was willed directly to Victoria and Lily in Charles’s final handwritten codicil! We suppressed that codicil!" Sterling grabbed his hair in terror. "That’s grand larceny! That’s federal wire fraud! We’re talking ten to twenty years in federal prison!"
Evelyn slammed her fist onto the antique desk.
"I will NOT die in a prison cell!" she roared. "Victoria thinks she holds all the cards? She doesn't have the stomach for a real war! She loves that pathetic little girl more than her own life. If Lily recants her testimony—if that child refuses to testify—the state's primary felony assault case against Ethan falls apart. The video shows the shove, but Ethan can claim it was accidental horseplay if the victim says she wasn't scared of him!"
"Evelyn, what are you suggesting?" Sterling asked, backing away. "Victoria has federal marshals stationed outside the hospital!"
"Lily isn't at the hospital anymore," Evelyn whispered, a manic, desperate gleam in her eyes. "My private investigator tracked them. Victoria had her discharged two hours ago to an outpatient physical therapy clinic in Scarsdale. Private security there is minimal."
"Evelyn, no! That’s witness tampering of a federal witness! That’s an automatic fifteen-year mandatory minimum!"
"Shut up, Marcus!" Evelyn hissed, grabbing her coat and car keys. "I am her grandmother. No court order on earth can stop a grandmother from visiting her wounded grandchild with a box of pastries. I will talk to that child. I will remind her who pays for her lifestyle. And if Victoria tries to stop me, I will make sure the press sees a heartbroken grandmother being assaulted by federal thugs."
Evelyn Vance had spent seventy years manipulating everyone around her through guilt, money, and intimidation. She truly believed her own myth.
She believed that she was untouchable.
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She was about to find out how wrong she was.
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