Chapter 6 - The Fall of Julian Prescott
The snowstorm reached its peak by early evening, wrapping downtown Denver in a blinding whiteout. Inside the lavish study of a multi-million-dollar estate in the exclusive Cherry Hills neighborhood, Julian Prescott paced frantically across the imported Persian rug, his phone pressed tightly to his ear.
“What do you mean my access has been revoked?” Julian hissed into the receiver, his voice cracking with panic. “I am the executive vice president of Prescott Industries! This is a system error!”
“It’s not an error, Mr. Prescott,” a cold, robotic corporate IT voice replied from the other end. “Your credentials have been permanently disabled by direct order of Damon Prescott. Have a nice holiday.”
The line went dead with a sharp click.
Julian slammed his phone down onto the mahogany desk, where it shattered against a crystal paperweight. His chest heaved as panic set in. For the past twenty-four hours, everything had unraveled with terrifying speed. The Merritt Systems deal—which Julian had planned to secretly manipulate to siphon a massive finder’s fee—had collapsed when Damon inexplicably pulled out at the last second. And now, his corporate access was gone, his personal margin calls were coming due, and his offshore accounts were suddenly returning error codes.
Before he could reach for the landline to call his private banker, heavy, rhythmic thuds echoed through the front hallway of the estate.
Julian spun around toward the study door just as it swung open with a resounding crash.
Three federal marshals, flanked by two local Denver police officers and corporate security personnel led by Marcus, stepped into the room. The cold mountain wind blew in from the open front door behind them, swirling stray papers off the desk.
“Julian Prescott?” the lead marshal asked, stepping forward with a pair of steel handcuffs glinting under the warm study lights.
“This is an outrage!” Julian sputtered, backing up against his desk as his face flushed a deep, furious crimson. “Do you know who I am? I am a Prescott! I’ll have every single one of your badges by morning—”.
“You’re currently facing federal charges for wire fraud, identity theft, grand larceny, and corporate forgery,” Marcus interrupted, stepping into the room with a cold, triumphant smile. He tossed a thick stack of printed financial affidavits onto Julian’s desk. “And as of three minutes ago, all of your personal assets have been frozen by federal injunction.”
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Julian stared at the papers, the color draining entirely from his face. The game was over. The empire he had tried to steal by cutting down his own cousin had collapsed in on him like a house of cards.
As the heavy steel cuffs clicked around Julian’s wrists, he realized the most terrifying part of all: Damon hadn't even bothered to show up to watch him fall. To Damon, Julian wasn't even worth the effort of a personal confrontation anymore. He was simply a legal nuisance being swept off the floor.
