Chapter 5 - The Freezing Out
On Monday morning, the financial hammer fell.
Nicholas arrived at the AeroFlow offices in downtown Seattle at 8:30 a.m., likely hoping to spend the day smoothing over the "clerical errors" with his legal team and reassuring his staff.
Instead, he found two forensic accountants from Sterling & Associates, accompanied by a court-appointed receiver, standing in his lobby.
My phone rang at 9:15 a.m.
"Mom! What have you done?!" Nick was screaming, his voice echoing as if he were standing in a tiled bathroom. "The bank just froze our operational accounts! My payroll check is going to bounce tomorrow! There are federal observers in my office right now locking down our servers! They’re saying Apex Horizon called the loan for fraud! What did you do to Apex? Who do you know there?!"
"I know the owner, Nicholas," I said, sitting comfortably in my suite, sipping my morning tea.
"Who? Who is it? Give me their name! I'll call them, I'll explain! It was just a temporary transfer! I was going to put the eighty thousand back by Friday! I just needed to stop the eviction so Chloe’s parents didn't find out! Mom, please, you have to help me. If my company goes under, I lose everything!"
"You should have thought about that before you treated your mother like garbage on your porch, Nicholas," I said, my voice completely devoid of pity. "You looked at my old suitcase and saw a burden. Well, that 'burden' spent thirty years building the logistics networks that your entire startup is based on. And that 'burden' is the sole capital investor behind Apex Horizon."
A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the line. I could hear the distant, frantic murmurs of his employees in the background, but Nick was entirely silent.
"You...?" he whispered, his voice trembling so hard I could barely hear him. "You're Apex Horizon?"
"I am," I said. "And I am also Stonegate Properties. I bought your house, Nicholas. I funded your company. I paid for the very clothes on your back and the Tesla in your driveway. I wanted you to build something of your own, to feel the pride of hard work, so I kept my wealth hidden. I wanted to see if the son I raised with love and humility would still respect his mother when he thought she had nothing left to give."
"Mom... I... I didn't know," he stammered, his voice cracking as he broke into a frantic, pathetic sob. "I swear, I was just so stressed. Chloe’s parents are so judgmental, they make me feel like I’m nothing... I just wanted to look successful..."
"You wanted to look successful by stepping on the woman who gave you everything," I said, my voice cold as ice. "You wanted to play pretend in your ivory tower. Well, Nicholas, the game is over. The tower is falling."
"Mom, please! Don't do this! We have Liam! Your grandson! Think of him!"
"I am thinking of him," I said. "I am going to make sure he grows up with a father who knows the value of a dollar, and the value of respect. And right now, you don't know either. I'll see you in court, Nicholas."
I hung up the phone.
Ten minutes later, Arthur called. "The asset freeze is fully executed, Eleanor. AeroFlow Logistics is officially in receivership. And I just received a call from Charles Pemberton’s attorney. It seems Donald Vance did his job well; the Pemberton Group is officially pulling out of the Denver project and terminating their association with Nicholas. They are currently packing their bags to fly back to Aspen."
"And Chloe?" I asked.
May you like
"She’s currently packing her bags too," Arthur said quietly. "According to our contact in Medina, she just ordered a limousine to take her and the baby to the airport. She’s leaving him, Eleanor."
My heart heavy, I stood up. "Have our security team intercept her at the airport, Arthur. I want my grandson. But more importantly, I want to see my son’s face when he realizes he is completely, utterly alone."
