Chapter 3 - The Falling Dominos
The silence inside the boardroom was suffocating. The scent of spilled scotch filled the air as Daniel stared at Arthur Vance, then at the wall monitors displaying the stone-cold faces of his entire board of directors.
“T-terminated?” Daniel stammered, his face draining of all color. “Arthur, what the hell are you talking about?! You can't fire me! I am Northstar! My face is on the building! My name is on the registration!”
“Actually, Daniel,” Maya Chen stepped forward, holding out a thick stack of legal documents, “your name is merely on the employment contract that you signed five years ago—a contract that explicitly states you can be removed immediately without severance in the event of gross financial negligence, embezzlement, or breach of fiduciary duty.”
Brooke took a step back, her arrogant expression completely vanishing into sudden panic. “Daniel... what is she talking about? What is happening? Tell them to stop!”
“Shut up, Brooke!” Daniel snapped, his voice cracking with rising panic as he rushed toward the head of the table where I sat. “Elena, what did you do?! What lies did you tell them?!”
Before he could get within five feet of me, Marcus Thorne stood up, his massive frame blocking Daniel’s path.
“Stay right where you are, Daniel,” Marcus warned in a deep, booming voice. “If you step any closer to Elena, the security guards standing outside that door will personally throw you into the street.”
I picked up my tablet and looked up at my husband—the man I had supported, protected, and built a legacy for over six long years.
“Four point two million dollars, Daniel,” I said calmly. “That’s the amount you stole from our development reserve and moved into a private account under your sister’s name in the Caymans. Did you really think my forensic software wouldn't catch a four-million-dollar anomaly?”
Daniel swallowed hard, his hands trembling violently at his sides. “Elena... listen to me... that was for an investment! A private business venture! I was going to put it back before the annual audit!”
“And the seven hundred thousand dollars charged to the corporate card for Brooke’s personal lifestyle?” I continued, my voice cold as ice. “The luxury shopping sprees in Paris? The three hundred thousand dollars to clear her private gambling debt with an Atlantic City bookmaker?”
Brooke gasped loudly, her hands flying to her mouth as every board member turned their glares toward her.
“I didn't know!” Brooke shrieked, her voice high and terrified. “Daniel told me it was part of my executive advisory budget! He told me it was company money!”
“Ignorance of the law is not a legal defense, Miss Vance,” Sarah Lin interjected coldly from across the table. “By morning, the forensic audit report will be handed directly to the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington, along with a formal criminal complaint for corporate wire fraud.”
Daniel dropped to his knees right in front of the table, his arrogance completely shattered into pathetic, weeping desperation.
“Elena... please!” he begged, tears spilling over his cheeks as he reached out his hands toward me. “Please don't do this to me! We're married! We’re a team! If you ruin me, you ruin our family! What will my mother say? What will people think?!”
“Your mother made her position very clear tonight, Daniel,” I replied, looking down at him with pure detachment. “She reminded me that I was just 'a woman from nothing who married above herself.' So I’m simply returning to my work.”
I stood up, gathering my tablet and folder.
“Maya,” I instructed, “have security escort Mr. Vance and his sister off the corporate premises immediately. Revoke their keycards, freeze their company-issued vehicles, and change the security codes on the executive floor.”
“No! Elena! Wait!” Daniel screamed as two broad-shouldered security officers entered the boardroom, grabbing him by his arms and hauling him off his knees.
Brooke began crying hysterically as a third guard escorted her toward the elevator, her expensive designer shoes dragging uselessly against the floor.
“You can't do this to us!” Brooke screamed, her voice echoing down the hallway. “We are the Vances! You're nobody without us!”
I walked over to the floor-to-ceiling glass window overlooking the rainy Seattle skyline. Behind me, the board members were already discussing the press release strategy for Monday morning.
Maya stepped up beside me, handing me a quiet glass of water. “The security team is currently at Vivian’s mansion,” she whispered. “They are repossessing the luxury SUV Brooke drives and serving an emergency eviction notice on the corporate-owned townhome Daniel bought for his mother last year using company funds.”
I took a slow sip of the water, watching the city lights flicker in the rain.
“Make sure the police receive the cloud recording from Vivian’s dining room as well,” I added softly. “The physical assault charge against Brooke needs to be filed before sunrise.”
May you like
“Consider it done,” Maya smiled.
The reign of the Vance family was over. And the storm was just beginning.
