Chapter 5 - Stripped to the Bone
Diane collapsed against a marble pillar, clutching the legal notice as if it were a physical wound. "Embezzlement?! I am a family member!"
"You were an independent contractor, Mrs. Morrison," Arthur corrected her mercilessly. "And according to Vanguard expense records, you billed the logistics division for three European vacations, a fifty-thousand-dollar facelift in Switzerland, and seven private jet charters—all categorized as 'business travel.' None of it was approved by the board."
"Brendan approved it!" Diane shrieked, turning on her son. "He said it was fine!"
"Brendan did not have the authority to approve expenses over ten thousand dollars without the CEO's signature," Arthur stated. "Which means he is personally liable for co-signing fraudulent documentation."
Jessica, who had crept into the lobby twenty minutes late wearing a cheap sweater she had bought at the airport hotel, gasped when she saw the blue folder in Brendan's hand.
"Wait... Brendan," Jessica said, her voice shaking. "What about my apartment? You said the company paid the lease for the penthouse in SoHo!"
Brendan didn't answer. He couldn't even look at her.
"The SoHo penthouse," Arthur informed Jessica cheerfully, "was an executive apartment owned by Vanguard. Eviction notices were served to your doorman at 7:00 AM today. Your belongings are currently being packed into cardboard boxes and placed in a local storage unit. The first month's storage fee has been paid as a courtesy. After that, it’s forty dollars a month."
Jessica turned white. "My... my clothes? My Chanel bags?"
"All items purchased using company funds have been seized for forensic appraisal," Arthur said.
"You ruined me!" Jessica screamed, throwing her purse at Brendan’s chest. "You told me you were a billionaire! You told me she was just a useless house-charity case! You lied to me!"
"Jessica, stop!" Brendan yelled, trying to shield his face as his mistress began pounding her fists against his chest in the middle of the crowded lobby. "I didn't lie! I didn't know!"
"Enough," I commanded softly.
My single word cut through the chaos like a whip. Jessica stopped hit Brendan, panting, her hair wild. Diane wept against the marble pillar. Brendan stood bruised, disgraced, and utterly broken before his entire staff.
"Vance, escort these three off company property," I ordered the security chief. "If any of them step within five hundred feet of this building or my personal residence again, have them arrested for trespassing and harassment."
"Understood, Miss Vance," Vance replied.
As the guards grabbed Brendan and his mother by their elbows, dragging them toward the revolving doors where dozens of news cameras were flashing through the glass, Brendan turned his head, screaming my name over the noise of the crowd.
May you like
"CASSIDY! PLEASE! I STILL LOVE YOU! THINK OF OUR CHILD!"
I turned my back on his screams and stepped into the private elevator. The golden doors closed smoothly, shutting out the noise of his destruction forever.
