Chapter 4 - The Fall of the House of Vance
The ballroom was no longer a party; it was an execution chamber.
Guests were standing on chairs to get a better view of the documents flashing overhead. Arthur Sterling and three other equity partners were already on their cell phones, barking orders to their corporate legal teams to freeze Joe's access to the firm's servers and lock down the building on Wall Street.
"Security!" Joe roared, looking around frantically. "Where is the club security?! Escort these people out! They are trespassing!"
The general manager of the Greenwich Country Club stepped out from the crowd, accompanied by two police officers in uniform. But they didn't move toward me or Tommy.
They moved directly toward Joe.
"Mr. Joseph Vance?" the lead police officer asked, pulling a pair of steel handcuffs from his utility belt.
Joe backed away, his eyes wild with panic. "What is this?! Do you know who I am?! I am a managing partner at—"
"You were a managing partner, Joe," Arthur Sterling interrupted coldly, standing three feet away with his arms crossed. "As of two minutes ago, the board has unanimously voted to terminate your partnership for cause. We are impounding your capital account, and our forensic accountants are meeting federal agents at your office in an hour."
"Officer, on what grounds?!" Joe demanded, his voice cracking into a desperate squeak as his hands were pulled behind his back.
"Warrant issued out of the District Court for wire fraud, tax evasion, and grand larceny," the officer replied smoothly, clicking the metal cuffs around Joe's wrists. CLICK-CLACK.
The sound of the handcuffs shutting echoed clearly across the ballroom.
Chloe screamed again, dropping her designer purse onto the floor. "Joe! You promised me we were going to Paris next month! What about my house in Greenwich?!"
"The house in Greenwich was purchased with stolen client funds, Miss Miller," Rebecca Sloan noted coolly, pulling a document from her briefcase. "A temporary restraining order has already been placed on the title. You have until six o'clock tonight to vacate the premises before federal marshals seize the property."
Chloe stared at Rebecca in utter disbelief, her face pale, her lipstick smudged. She looked down at the toddler crying at her feet, then back at Joe, who was now being marched down the center aisle of the ballroom toward the exit, flanked by two officers.
As Joe passed my table, he stopped, his chest heaving, sweat pouring down his forehead.
"You planned this," he hissed at me, his eyes burning with pure, unadulterated venom. "You used my son against me."
Tommy stepped forward, looking his father dead in the eye.
May you like
"You tried to take my mom away from me, Dad," Tommy said softly, his voice echoing in the silence. "You told me real men protect their families. That's what I did."
Joe opened his mouth to spit out another curse, but the officers shoved him forward through the double doors, out into the bright afternoon sunlight where two police cruisers were waiting with their blue lights flashing.
