Chapter 6 - The Fall of Julian Vance
The impact sounded like a wet crack.
Julian groaned in agony, stumbling backward into the glass coffee table, which shattered beneath his weight into a thousand jagged pieces. Blood poured from a deep gash on his cheek as he lay gasping among the shards.
Elena didn't hesitate. She grabbed her smartphone from the desk, darted past him, unlocked the hotel door, and ran into the hallway, screaming for security at the top of her lungs.
Within ninety seconds, two armed hotel security guards rushed up the stairs, finding Elena standing outside her room, breathing heavily, while Julian crawled through the doorway, bleeding and clutching his jaw.
Ten minutes later, the hallway was filled with red and blue flashing lights.
Three officers from the Chicago Police Department cuffed Julian, pinning him against the hallway wall as a paramedic wiped blood from his face. Julian was weeping now—not out of remorse, but out of total, humiliating defeat.
At that exact moment, Arthur Vance and Marcus Hayes arrived at the hotel, having been alerted by Elena’s emergency SOS button on her phone.
Arthur wrapped a warm wool coat around his daughter’s shoulders, holding her tightly. “Are you hurt, sweetheart?”
“I’m fine, Dad,” Elena said, her voice calm, though her hands trembled slightly. “He tried to rob me.”
Marcus Hayes walked up to the lead police detective, handing him an official folder containing the bank fraud documents and the emergency restraining order issued that very afternoon.
“Officer,” Marcus said firmly, “this man is Julian Vance. He is currently under investigation for federal bank fraud, identity theft, and now breaking and entering, felony assault, and attempted robbery.”
The officer looked at Julian with cold disgust. “Get him down to the cruiser. Call crime scene processing for the room.”
As the officers dragged Julian toward the elevator, he caught sight of Elena standing beside her father.
“Elena, please!” Julian sobbed, his voice muffled by the bandage on his face. “Tell them it was a mistake! Tell them we were just having a fight! I love you!”
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Elena looked at him—the pathetic, broken man who had thrown a filthy cleaning rag in her face five days ago, believing he owned her body and her future.
“I don't know you, Julian,” Elena said softly. “You’re just a mistake I corrected.”
