Chapter 10 - The Boardroom Massacre
At Grant's corporate headquarters,
the celebration was cut short in the most public way possible.
He was sitting in the grand conference room,
toasting with champagne alongside Arthur Vance and Cynthia,
when the doors swung open.
A quiet man in a gray suit walked in,
stepping past the receptionist who was trying to stop him.
"Grant Whitaker?"
the man asked,
his voice echoing in the spacious room.
"Yes,"
Grant replied,
his glass hovering mid-air,
his brow furrowing in confusion.
"You've been served,"
the man said,
dropping a thick legal packet onto the polished mahogany table before turning and walking out.
Grant stared at the papers,
the smile sliding off his face as he read the bold print on the cover page.
"Petition for Dissolution of Marriage,"
the document read,
followed by,
"Temporary Restraining Order and Asset Freeze."
"What is this,
Grant?"
Arthur Vance demanded,
his booming voice cutting through the sudden,
tense silence.
Grant's hands began to shake as he flipped through the pages,
his eyes scanning the detailed allegations.
"It's...
it's a mistake,"
he stammered,
his face turning a pale,
ghostly white.
"Vivienne has frozen the accounts,
I...
I can't access the funds."
"What do you mean you can't access the funds?"
Arthur roared,
standing up from his chair.
"The contract you just signed requires a five hundred thousand dollar deposit by the end of the day."
"If you don't have that money,
you are in default of our agreement."
Cynthia stood up as well,
her face twisted in a mixture of anger and panic.
"Grant,
do something!"
she hissed.
"Call her,
make her stop this!"
"I can't,"
Grant whispered,
staring at the document that detailed his financial theft,
his affair,
and the forged medical records.
But the worst was yet to come,
as Victoria had sent a copy of the legal filing directly to Arthur Vance’s personal attorney.
Arthur’s phone buzzed,
and as he read the message,
his expression shifted from anger to absolute fury.
He looked at his daughter,
his eyes cold and disgusted.
"Cynthia,"
he said,
his voice dangerously quiet.
"What is this about you bribing a medical clerk to steal private health files?"
"What is this about a conspiracy to steal a child?"
Cynthia gasped,
her face draining of all color as she realized their secret plot had been exposed to her father.
"Father,
it's not what it looks like,"
she cried,
stepping toward him.
"Quiet!"
Arthur bellowed,
slamming his hand onto the table.
"You have disgraced this family,
you have used my name to commit a crime."
"I am pulling all funding from this project,
and I am cutting you off completely,
Cynthia."
"As for you,"
Arthur turned his fierce gaze onto Grant,
"my lawyers will sue you for fraud,
and I will make sure you never work in this city again."
"Get out of my sight,
both of you,"
he spit,
turning his back on them as his security detail stepped into the room to escort them out.
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The empire Grant had built on a foundation of lies had collapsed in a matter of minutes,
leaving him with nothing but a stack of legal papers and a mountain of debt.
