Chapter 4 - Vanessa’s True Colors
By 1:00 p.m., the news had broken across the financial wires.
*BLOOMBERG: Vale Holdings CEO Daniel Vale Ousted Amid Massive Multi-Million Dollar Fraud Probe.*
*WALL STREET JOURNAL: Lenders Halt Credit Lines to Vale Holdings as SEC Launches Inquiry into Diverted Acquisition Funds.*
Daniel arrived back at the penthouse in a regular yellow taxi, having discovered his corporate town car driver had already received orders from the interim board not to transport him. His black American Express card had been declined when he tried to pay the cab driver, forcing him to scrape together forty dollars in crumpled bills from his wallet.
He slammed the penthouse door open, his coat disheveled, his tie undone.
Evelyn was sitting on the sofa, weeping softly into a linen handkerchief, surrounded by frantic phone calls from her socialite friends asking if the rumors were true.
In the master bedroom, there was the sound of drawers opening and slamming shut.
Daniel stormed down the hallway. "Vanessa!"
He stopped at the bedroom door.
Two massive Louis Vuitton suitcases lay open on the king-sized bed. Vanessa was hurriedly stuffing them with designer gowns, cashmere coats, and rows of expensive shoes. On the nightstand, three velvet jewelry boxes lay open and empty.
"What are you doing?" Daniel demanded, his voice hoarse.
Vanessa didn't stop packing. She didn't even look at him. "What does it look like I’m doing, Daniel? I’m leaving."
"Leaving?" Daniel stared at her in disbelief. "Are you insane? I just had the worst four hours of my life! I was betrayed by my own board! Claire orchestrated a hostile takeover! I need you to stand by me while I call our criminal defense team!"
Vanessa let out a harsh, mocking laugh that cut through Daniel like broken glass. She zipped up one of the suitcases and turned to face him.
The soft, deferential, worshipful expression she had worn at the Thanksgiving dinner table was gone. In its place was a sharp, calculating stranger.
"Stand by you?" she sneered. "With what, Daniel? The news says your accounts are frozen. The feds are raiding your office. My lawyer called me twenty minutes ago—he says the SEC is going to subpoena my bank accounts because *you* were stupid enough to write my consulting invoices from the Vanguard loan pool!"
"I did that for *you*!" Daniel shouted, his face turning crimson. "I bought you this apartment! I bought you that jewelry! I gave you four million dollars!"
"You didn't give me anything, Daniel! You used me as a tax shelter and an ornament!" Vanessa snapped, pulling the heavy diamond bracelet off her wrist and slipping it into her leather handbag. "You told me you were worth half a billion! You told me your wife was a nobody who wouldn't dare squeak! You told me she was weak!"
"She *was* weak!"
"She just took your entire company before lunch, you idiot!" Vanessa yelled back, stepping toward him with blazing eyes. "She took your money, your building, your reputation, and your board! And now she’s handing your name to the Department of Justice! I am not going to prison for your incompetence!"
Evelyn appeared in the doorway, her eyes swollen, leaning against the doorframe. "Vanessa... how can you speak to him like that? After everything my son has provided for you? Give that bracelet back. That belongs to the family trust!"
Vanessa turned her sneer on Daniel’s mother. "Family trust? You mean the trust that just got frozen by the bank, Evelyn? Keep your mouth shut. The only reason I put up with your patronizing comments at dinner was because Daniel was signing the checks. Now he’s broke, you’re broke, and in about forty-eight hours, nobody in Manhattan will even answer your calls."
"Give me the bags," Daniel growled, stepping forward, his hands curling into fists. "Everything in those bags was paid for with company funds. If the feds seize them, that’s my restitution collateral! You aren't leaving this apartment with a single dollar!"
"Touch me," Vanessa warned, pulling out her smartphone and holding it inches from his face. The screen was already dialed to 911. "Go on, Daniel. Touch me like you touched Claire on Thursday. I’ll press call, and the NYPD will have you in Central Booking before your lawyers even know which precinct you're in. Do you really want an assault charge on top of wire fraud?"
Daniel froze.
The realization hit him like a physical blow: he had no leverage. No money, no power, no fear to command. He was completely, utterly hollowed out.
Vanessa zipped the second suitcase, grabbed her purse, and shoved past him into the hallway.
"Have a nice life, Daniel," she said without looking back as she walked out the front door. "Don't bother calling. I’ve already blocked your number."
The heavy front door clicked shut.
Silence fell over the penthouse. Evelyn sank onto the floor by the entryway, sobbing hysterically into her hands.
May you like
Daniel stood in the middle of the empty bedroom, surrounded by the open, gutted drawers, the phantom scent of expensive perfume lingering in the air like a taunt.
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