Chapter 6 - The Crack in the Foundation
By 3:00 PM that afternoon, news of the legal injunction had reached the executive offices of Vance Development Corp.
Richard Vance—Chloe’s father—was a loud, arrogant man who built his reputation on intimidation and heavy golf-course political favors.
When the bank called to inform him that his fifty-million-dollar credit line for the luxury condo project had been temporarily frozen due to a land-use dispute, Richard nearly suffered a stroke.
Ten minutes later, Richard stormed into Nathan and Chloe’s suburban mansion, slamming the heavy iron front doors behind him.
Chloe was sitting in the living room in a white silk robe, sipping herbal tea while a private night-nurse rocked baby Oliver in the nursery upstairs.
“Where is he?!” Richard roared, his face purple with rage.
Chloe jumped, nearly spilling her tea. “Dad?! What’s wrong? Who are you looking for?”
“Your idiot husband!” Richard yelled, pacing across the marble foyer. “Where is Nathan?!”
Nathan walked down the grand curved staircase, his tie loosened, his eyes red and bloodshot. He had spent the last two hours sitting in his car in a grocery store parking lot, trying to process the catastrophic collapse of his career.
“Richard...” Nathan said, his voice weak and trembling. “I... I was just about to call you—”
“What the hell did your mother do?!” Richard shouted, stepping right up into Nathan’s face, poking a thick finger into Nathan’s chest. “The bank just froze my development loans! The county inspector just issued a cease-and-desist on the main access road to Vance Estates!”
Chloe stood up, her jaw dropping. “What?! Nathan’s mother? What does that crazy old woman have to do with your company, Dad?”
“She owns the land!” Richard screamed, turning his rage on his daughter. “That ‘crazy old woman’ owns the drainage easement under our entire development! The lease expired three days ago, and she refused to sign the renewal!”
Chloe stared at her father in disbelief. “What are you talking about? She’s a retired librarian! She lives in a tiny, ugly house on Elm Street! She doesn't own anything!”
“Her husband owned it!” Richard yelled back. “Michael Vance’s trust owns thirty percent of the valley floor! I’ve been paying forty thousand dollars a year to a private escrow account for twenty years because I thought she was just a harmless widow who would never enforce the commercial covenants!”
Richard turned back to Nathan, his eyes filled with pure hatred.
“She hired Arthur Sterling!” Richard snarled. “Arthur Sterling filed a formal fraud claim against my company, claiming I understated the commercial revenue of Vance Estates to keep her lease payments artificially low for ten years! They’re demanding a forensic audit of my entire firm!”
Nathan sank down onto the bottom step of the staircase, burying his face in his hands.
“I was suspended today, Richard...” Nathan whispered, his voice cracking. “Arthur suspended me from the firm.”
The room went dead quiet.
Chloe looked at her husband as if he had suddenly turned into a cockroach.
“Suspended?” Chloe gasped, stepping back from him. “Nathan, what do you mean suspended? You’re a partner! You bought this house! How are we going to pay the mortgage? The private nurse costs eight thousand dollars a month!”
“I don't have a job, Chloe!” Nathan broke down, sobbing hysterically into his hands. “Arthur cut off my drawdown account! They froze my corporate credit card! My mother... my mother took everything away!”
“Your mother didn't take it away, you pathetic fool!” Richard spat, looking down at Nathan with utter contempt. “You let a broken-down old woman blindside us because you were too arrogant to realize what she was sitting on!”
Richard stepped back, adjusting his suit jacket, his expression cold and calculating.
“Fix this, Nathan,” Richard said in a low, dangerous threat. “Fix this with your mother by tomorrow morning, or I will personally ensure that Chloe files for an immediate legal separation and takes this house, the baby, and every dime you have left.”
“Dad!” Chloe cried out.
“Shut up, Chloe!” Richard snapped at his daughter. “You’re the one who pushed the old woman down at the hospital! You’re the one who posted that stupid picture on Instagram bragging about kicking her out!”
Chloe’s face turned bright red. “She was dirty, Dad! She brought an old, moldy blanket!”
“That ‘old moldy blanket’ just cost us fifty million dollars!” Richard roared.
He turned toward the front doors, grabbing the handle.
May you like
“You have twenty-four hours, Nathan,” Richard said without looking back. “Get your mother to sign that lease renewal, or your life in this city is over.”
The heavy front doors slammed shut, leaving Nathan and Chloe standing in the vast, empty marble foyer, the silence between them thicker than stone.
