Chapter 6 - The Fall of Vanessa
By November, the downfall of Marlowe Technologies was total.
Without the Nexus-9 license, the company’s software became useless overnight. Within forty-eight hours, Amazon and Walmart canceled their service contracts. Marlowe Technologies’ stock plunged from ninety dollars a share to under forty cents before trading was halted by the SEC.
The board of directors removed Ethan as CEO, launching a formal civil suit against him for breach of fiduciary duty and financial concealment.
While Ethan was engulfed in legal firestorms, Vanessa’s world was tearing apart at the seams.
Unable to pay her high-end legal fees, and abandoned by Ethan whose bank accounts had been frozen by court order, Vanessa found herself sitting in a small, sterile courtroom in lower Manhattan for her preliminary hearing on grand larceny charges.
Arthur Vance sat behind her in the gallery, looking ten years older, his face lined with stress.
Claire entered the gallery quietly, accompanied by two private security guards. She was now twenty-two weeks pregnant, her baby bump clearly visible beneath a luxurious cream-colored cashmere coat. She looked radiant, powerful, and utterly serene.
Vanessa turned from the defense table and saw her sister.
A mixture of desperate rage and terrifying realization washed over Vanessa. She broke away from her public defender and rushed toward the wooden railing separating the defense table from the gallery.
"Claire!" Vanessa cried out, her voice raspy and desperate. "Claire, please! Talk to the prosecutor! Tell them it was a misunderstanding! I'm your sister!"
The court bailiffs immediately stepped forward, but Claire held up a gentle hand, stopping them.
Claire walked slowly to the railing, looking down at her younger sister. Vanessa’s hair was unstyled, her designer clothes rumpled, her mascara running down her cheeks.
"My sister?" Claire asked softly. "My sister sat across from me at the Halston while my husband handed me divorce papers. My sister wore my dead mother's necklace and smiled while I sat there pregnant."
"Ethan tricked me!" Vanessa sobbed, reaching through the railing with hands that shook violently. "He told me you didn't love him! He told me you were going to leave him anyway! I was stupid, Claire! Please... I can't go to prison! Dad, tell her!"
Arthur stood up from his seat, his eyes red. "Claire... please, daughter. Have mercy. She's your little sister. She made a terrible mistake, but prison will destroy her."
Claire looked from her weeping sister to her pleading father.
"Mercy is reserved for those who show remorse, Arthur," Claire said, her voice clear and carrying through the silent courtroom. "Vanessa isn't sorry she stole my necklace. She isn't sorry she betrayed me. She is only sorry that Ethan's money ran out."
"Claire, please!" Vanessa shrieked as the bailiff grabbed her arm to pull her back.
"The District Attorney offered a plea deal this morning," Claire said calmly. "Three years probation, five hundred hours of community service, and a permanent criminal record for felony grand larceny. I advised the prosecutor to accept it."
Vanessa gasped, tears pouring down her face. "A felony record?! I won't be able to get a job anywhere!"
May you like
"Then I suggest you learn how to build something of your own," Claire said softly. "Just like I had to."
Claire turned her back on her sister’s screams and walked out of the courtroom into the bright sunlight of Centre Street.
