Chapter 3 - The Scallop of Vipers
While Brenley rested in the safety of the Thorne estate, chaos was breaking out across the city.
In the penthouse, Evelyn Vance was hysterically scrubbing her skin in a marble bathtub, screaming at the maids to throw away her ruined ten-thousand-dollar silk gown. In the living room, Carter was pacing back and forth, frantically dialing his financial advisors, legal counsel, and bankers.
"What do you mean the accounts are frozen?!" Carter roared into his phone, slamming his fist onto the mahogany table. "I am a joint holder on the Vance Holdings account!"
"Mr. Vance," his accountant’s terrified voice came through the speaker. "Rourke Thorne executed a legal recall of all credit lines extended to Vance Holdings through Thorne Commercial Bank at 6:00 PM today. Since your company used those credit lines as collateral for your payroll and private accounts, everything has been frozen under emergency foreclosure proceedings. You are currently three million dollars in the red."
"That's illegal!" Carter screamed. "He can't do that without thirty days' notice!"
"He can if there's a breach of contract clause regarding 'moral turpitude and criminal negligence,' Mr. Vance," the accountant explained. "Thorne's legal team attached a certified video recording to the court filing. It shows your mother pouring hazardous waste water over Rourke Thorne's pregnant daughter, followed by your verbal admission of intent to commit child abduction."
Carter’s phone dropped an inch. "Video? What video?!"
"The penthouse security system," a smooth, feminine voice purred from the doorway.
Carter turned around. Veronica stood there, wearing a tight crimson silk dress, holding a glass of expensive champagne. She looked completely unbothered by the crisis unfolding around them. Veronica Miller was twenty-six, stunningly attractive, and utterly ruthless. She had aligned herself with Carter because she believed he was about to inherit a massive chunk of the Thorne fortune through the baby.
"The penthouse security system?" Carter stammered. "I turned off the cameras in the dining room last month!"
"You turned off the main system," Veronica smiled, taking a sip of her champagne. "You didn't know your father-in-law installed a secondary, encrypted surveillance network when he bought the building. Every word you said to Brenley today—every single threat—was streamed directly to Thorne’s private servers."
Evelyn walked out of the bathroom wrapped in a plush robe, her head wrapped in a towel, her face pale with pure panic. "Carter! What is happening?! The building manager just knocked on the door! He gave us two hours to pack our personal clothes and clear out! He said Rourke bought out our lease agreement!"
"He can't throw us out onto the street!" Carter yelled, grabbing his hair in frustration. "Where are we supposed to go?!"
"We have the lake house in Hamptons," Evelyn said desperately. "We can go there—"
"The lake house was owned by Thorne Steel, Mom!" Carter shouted, his voice cracking with hysteria. "Everything—the cars, the penthouses, the credit cards, the country club memberships—it was all funded through Thorne’s subsidiary companies! We don't own anything!"
Evelyn fell back onto the sofa, pressing her hand against her heart. "No... no, this is impossible! We are the Vances! We are old money!"
"You were old money thirty years ago, Evelyn," Veronica said, her voice dropping the sweet act entirely as she set her champagne glass down on the table. "Now you're just bankrupt parasites who managed to piss off the most dangerous billionaire in the state."
Carter looked at Veronica, his eyes wide. "Veronica, baby... you have money, right? Your trust fund—"
"My trust fund?" Veronica let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "Carter, I stayed with you because I thought I was going to be the stepmother to the sole heir of the Thorne-Vance estate! I'm not spending a single cent of my money to support a broke idiot and his crazy mother!"
"You bitch!" Evelyn shrieked, jumping up from the sofa with her nails clawed out. "You seduced my son! You lived in our house!"
"I lived in Rourke Thorne's house!" Veronica snapped, stepping back with a look of utter disgust. "And unlike you two fools, I know when a ship is sinking. Keep the potato stains, Evelyn. They suit you."
Veronica grabbed her designer handbag from the side table, turned on her high heels, and walked straight out of the penthouse door, leaving Carter and Evelyn standing in the ruins of their artificial luxury.
Ten minutes later, two armed security officers knocked on the open door.
"Mr. Vance, Mrs. Vance," the head guard said coldly, gesturing toward the elevator. "Your time is up. Please step out of the residence immediately. Your personal clothing will be boxed and sent to a storage unit tomorrow morning."
"You can't do this!" Evelyn sobbed, holding onto a crystal vase. "I am Evelyn Vance!"
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The guard didn't even argue. He simply stepped forward, grabbed the vase from her hands, and nodded to his partner. The two guards firmly took Carter and Evelyn by their elbows and escorted them out into the hallway, forcing them into the elevator.
As the doors closed, Carter looked at his reflection in the polished brass mirror. Dressed in his expensive suit, without a dime in his pocket, homeless, and facing the wrath of Rourke Thorne, he finally realized the magnitude of the nightmare he had created for himself.
