PART 2: THE DEEP END OF BANKRUPTCY
The heavy,
wet fabric of his custom Italian tuxedo weighed fifty pounds.
His shiny leather shoes slid against the slick marble tile.
Two security guards stood by,
their arms crossed.
They didn’t offer a hand.
They worked for the Sterling family,
not him.
“Evelyn!
Wait!”
Julian choked out,
coughing up pool water.
He finally dragged himself onto the deck,
looking like a drowned rat.
The green bowtie was completely ruined.
Chloe was shivering in her silver dress,
trying to hide behind a pillar.
“Evelyn,
it was Julian’s fault!
He forced himself on me!
You know I love you!”
Evelyn stopped near the double glass doors.
She didn’t look back at Chloe.
She didn’t look at Julian.
She looked at a man in a sharp charcoal suit
who had just stepped out of the mansion.
It was Harrison,
the Chief Legal Officer of Sterling Global Industries.
He held an iPad.
“Harrison,”
Evelyn said,
her voice clear
and
level.
“Is the compliance audit complete?”
“Yes,
Ms.
Sterling,”
Harrison replied,
his voice a mechanical drone.
“We initiated the look-back protocol sixty seconds ago,
immediately following the breach of the morality clause.”
Julian froze on the wet deck.
Water puddled around his knees.
“Audit?
What audit?
Evelyn,
what are you talking about?
We’re getting married next month!
Vance Ventures is about to close the ten-million-dollar tech merger with your father’s firm!”
Evelyn slowly turned her body around.
She adjusted the diamond bracelet on her wrist with zero emotion.
“There is no merger,
Julian.
And
there is no Vance Ventures.”
Julian’s breath hitched.
He tried to stand,
but
his wet shoes lost grip again.
“What?”
“Vance Ventures was built on a capital line provided by the Sterling Trust,”
Harrison explained,
reading from the screen.
“Section 9 of the funding agreement dictates
that any public scandal
or act of bad faith by the operating partner results in immediate debt acceleration.
You owe the Sterling Trust fifteen million dollars.
Due immediately.”
“Fifteen million?”
Julian’s voice turned into a pathetic squeak.
“I don’t have that cash liquid!
Everything is tied up in the merger stocks!”
“Not anymore,”
Evelyn said.
She walked back toward him,
her heels clicking with a heavy,
rhythmic sound against the stone.
“I bought those stocks this morning through a shell company.
I own your debt,
Julian.
I own your office building.
I even own the lease on the sports car you drove here tonight.”
The surrounding guests began to whisper.
These were the elite of New York—venture capitalists,
real estate moguls,
judes.
They knew exactly what this meant.
Julian Vance was being erased from the market in real-time.
“You can’t do this,
Evelyn!”
Chloe screamed,
stepping out from behind the pillar.
“My mom is your aunt!
We are blood!
You can’t ruin our family name over a stupid kiss!”
Evelyn finally looked at her cousin.
The look was so empty it made Chloe step back.
“You wanted my life,
Chloe?
You can have his debt.
Harrison,
remove Chloe from the family trust.
Effective immediately.
She can pay for her own silver dresses from now on.”
Chloe sank to her knees,
her face covered in fake tears.
May you like
The gold digger had just dug her own grave.
