Chapter 3 - The Cold Pavement
""This is a mistake!"" Julian shouted frantically, shaking his phone as if the device itself had betrayed him. ""You can't do this! My board of directors will never permit an arbitrary freeze! My father—""
""Your father spent the last five years gambling away your family's remaining industrial holdings,"" Raymond Cross countered smoothly, presenting a stamped legal injunction. ""Marcus Vance holds your board's governing majority by proxy. The freeze was executed thirty minutes ago when Clara’s distress call registered on our private server. As of this exact second, Mr. Sterling, you possess zero liquidity, zero lines of corporate credit, and zero authority.""
Elena gasped, letting go of Julian’s arm as if he had suddenly caught fire. ""Julian, what does he mean? You told me you owned the entire estate outright! You said she had nothing!""
""Shut up, Elena!"" Julian snarled, his face twisted in disbelief and rage. He lunged forward toward Clara, his hands outstretched, desperate to regain leverage. ""Clara, look at me! You loved me! We made vows! You can't just unleash your family on me like this over a domestic argument! You're carrying my son!""
Before Julian could take two strides, two Vance security operatives stepped into his path, intercepting his chest with iron grips and forcing him back toward the drenched flagstones. Julian hit the wet pavement, his expensive tuxedo jacket tearing at the sleeve as water soaked into his designer trousers.
Clara stood tall under her father's heavy coat, resting both hands protectively over her swollen belly. For months, she had begged him for affection, endured his late nights, and wept silently while Elena left deliberate lipstick marks on his shirts. She had pleaded for the sake of their unborn baby, only to be cast into the rain like garbage. That broken, desperate woman died the moment Julian slammed the door in her face.
""You told me I had ten minutes to disappear,"" Clara spoke, her tone devoid of tears, cold and sharp as a scalpel. ""I am giving you five. Take her, take your clothes, and walk down the hill. If you set foot on this property again, the police will arrest you for felony criminal trespass.""
""Clara! No!"" Julian scrambled to his feet, but the estate gates were already rolling open to let in a Vance medical transport.
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Marcus Vance signaled his men without turning back. ""Escort them to the public road. If they resist, let the county sheriff handle them.""
As Julian and Elena were herded toward the darkness of the country road, Julian's phone buzzed again with an incoming call from his CFO. The voicemail preview flashed on his screen: Julian, the Vance Corporation just initiated an emergency liquidation of Sterling Capital. We're completely ruined.
