Chapter 6 - The Fall of Lauren Vane
While Ethan was being dismantled in Myers Park, Lauren Vane was discovering that running from the Vance family was like trying to outrun a thunderstorm on an open plain.
She had spent the night in a cheap motel forty miles outside Charlotte, terrified to use her credit cards, keeping her phone turned off to avoid location tracking. By 2:00 p.m., driven by desperation and the foolish belief that she could retrieve her hidden secondary passport from her penthouse, she drove back toward the city in a rented sedan.
She parked two blocks away from the Southgate luxury complex, wrapping a scarf around her head and putting on oversized sunglasses.
She walked quickly toward the side entrance, her heart hammering against her ribs. If she could just get to the safe in her closet, she had twelve thousand dollars in cash and a clean identity document that could get her across the border into Mexico.
She slid her keycard into the private elevator reader.
BEEP-BEEP. RED LIGHT.
Lauren tried again, frantic. BEEP-BEEP. RED LIGHT.
“Looking for this, Miss Vane?” a smooth, cultured voice asked from behind her.
Lauren spun around.
Julian Vance was sitting on a plush leather sofa in the building’s private lobby, a cup of espresso resting on the glass table before him. Beside him stood two uniformed officers from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and a dark-suited gentleman holding a federal badge.
Lauren’s knees went weak. She backed toward the glass doors, but two security guards—wearing badges marked Vance Tactical Services—stepped into the doorway, blocking her exit.
“Julian...” Lauren stammered, her voice high and panicked. “Please... I didn't hit Grace! It was Ethan! Ethan was the one who hit her! I was just a bystander!”
Julian set his espresso cup down with a soft clink. He stood up, adjusting his cuffs.
“You were a bystander to the assault, yes,” Julian agreed pleasantly. “Which makes you an accomplice after the fact under state law. But that’s not why Special Agent Miller is here today.”
The federal agent stepped forward, pulling a pair of steel handcuffs from his belt.
“Lauren Vane, also known as Lauren Pierce,” Agent Miller declared in a loud, clear voice that echoed through the marble lobby. “You are under arrest for federal wire fraud, interstate transportation of stolen property, identity theft, and tax evasion involving four point two million dollars from the Crestview Fund and Walker Development.”
“No! No!” Lauren shrieked, struggling violently as the agent pulled her arms behind her back and snapped the cold steel around her wrists. “Ethan authorized those transfers! He signed the vendor agreements!”
“Ethan signed agreements with a fraudulent entity you created using stolen corporate credentials,” Julian corrected, walking over to stand inches from her face. “My firm provided the forensic paper trail two hours ago. Every text message you sent him, every deleted email from your secondary server, every offshore account route—it’s all in the hands of the grand jury.”
Lauren looked at Julian’s cold, handsome face, seeing no mercy, no emotion, no room for negotiation.
“Why are you doing this to me?!” she screamed as the officers began dragging her toward the police cruiser waiting at the curb. “I didn't even know who Grace was!”
Julian leaned in close, his eyes gleaming behind his glasses.
“That was your first mistake, Miss Vane,” Julian whispered. “You stepped into a home built by my family, drank our wine, humiliated my sister, and laughed when her husband struck her. In our family, we don't distinguish between the hand that lands the blow and the tongue that encouraged it.”
As the police car pulled away from the curb, its blue lights flashing against the glass facade of the Southgate building, Julian picked up his phone and dialed a short number.
“Marcus,” Julian said as his brother answered on the first ring. “Lauren is in federal custody. Bail has been set at five million dollars cash-only. She won't be coming out for a very long time.”
“Good,” Marcus replied from the other end. “How is the board meeting at Walker Development?”
Julian looked up at the high-rise tower above him, a slow, triumphant smile spreading across his lips.
May you like
“Walker Development no longer exists,” Julian reported. “The board just voted unanimously to liquidate the corporate identity and transfer all assets to Vance Infrastructure. Grace has been named honorary chairperson of the new charitable trust.”
“Bring the paperwork home, Julian,” Marcus said softly. “Mom is making dinner. And Grace wants to show us the new nursery design.”
