Chapter 6 - Stripped of Luxury
By 5:30 AM, the twilight before dawn painted the city in shades of cold blue and grey.
At the five-star Grand Regency Hotel, Charles and Evelyn Vance were preparing for their desperate media counter-attack. Evelyn was frantically applying makeup in front of a mirror, trying to cover her swollen, red eyes before the camera crew arrived for her live stream interview.
"Make sure you cry when you mention his mother," Charles instructed coldly, pacing near the hotel window. "Say she insulted our family heritage first. Make the public sympathize with you!"
"I know how to act, Dad!" Evelyn snapped nervously, checking her ringless finger—a stark reminder of the massive diamond ring she had lost. "Once the public sees my side, Pendelton Global will face a public relations nightmare! He'll be forced to settle with us!"
Suddenly, a loud, authoritative knock echoed against the heavy wooden door of their hotel suite.
"That must be the news crew," Evelyn said, rushing to open the door with a practiced sad expression.
She pulled the door open—and froze.
Standing in the hallway were not news reporters, but six federal agents in dark suits, accompanied by two uniformed police officers and a senior forensic auditor from the Department of Justice.
"Charles Vance?" the lead agent asked, holding up a federal badge and a stamped arrest warrant.
Charles rushed to the door, his face draining of all color. "What is the meaning of this?! Do you know who I am?!"
"Charles Vance, you are under arrest for federal wire fraud, embezzlement of public charity funds, tax evasion, and illegal transfer of corporate assets," the lead agent declared sternly. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."
Before Charles could shout, the officers stepped forward, pulled his arms behind his back, and snapped cold, steel handcuffs around his wrists.
"Dad! Dad!" Evelyn screamed in horror. "Officer, stop! You can't arrest him! We are the victims here!"
The forensic auditor turned to Evelyn, pulling out a separate court document. "Evelyn Vance, we have a civil asset seizure warrant for all luxury items, jewelry, and credit lines currently in your possession, as they were purchased using embezzled charitable funds."
Two female officers stepped into the suite, immediately seizing her designer handbags, her diamond earrings, and the expensive clothes laid out on the bed.
"No! Get your hands off my stuff!" Evelyn shrieked, struggling against an officer who blocked her way. "That's my Chanel! That's my Rolex! You can't take this from me!"
"Everything you own was bought with stolen money, Miss Vance," the officer said coldly, packing the items into evidence bags. "You are being evicted from this hotel immediately due to non-payment of your room charges."
Within fifteen minutes, Charles Vance was led down the hotel lobby in handcuffs, flanked by federal agents, right past a crowd of flashing news cameras that had arrived to cover his arrest.
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Evelyn was left standing on the curb outside the hotel in the cold morning air, dressed in a simple, cheap sweat suit she had been forced to borrow, holding a single plastic bag of personal toiletries.
The sun was just beginning to rise over the ocean horizon.
