Chapter 7 - THE FAILED CONSPIRACY
The gala dissolved into chaotic pandemonium as journalists mobbed the front perimeter and corporate delegates scrambled for the exits.
Julian seized Victoria by the upper arm, dragging her violently toward the private executive ante-room off the eastern corridor.
Eleanor and Chloe trailed behind them like weeping ghosts, shielding their faces from the flashing cameras of the paparazzi.
Julian slammed the heavy oak door of the ante-room, locking the deadbolt and leaning against it with heavy, ragged breaths.
"Think, Victoria!
Think!" Julian shouted, pacing across the room like a caged animal, pulling at his loosened bow tie.
"We have the contingency files!
We have the psychiatric affidavits signed by Dr.
Kaufman!
Where are the physical copies?"
Victoria wiped mascara from her cheeks with trembling fingers, her voice high-pitched and near hysteria.
"They...
they are in my leather portfolio inside the limousine, Julian!" she stammered.
"Dr.
Kaufman certified that Clara has been clinically delusional for the past eighteen months!
He stated she suffers from paranoid personality disorder and cannot manage personal or corporate assets!"
Julian turned to his mother, who was sitting on a leather sofa, clutching her pearl necklace until her knuckles were white.
"Mother!
Listen to me carefully!" Julian commanded, kneeling in front of her and gripping her shoulders.
"You must sign the emergency petition as Clara’s mother-in-law!
We will tell the press that Clara's public speech tonight was a severe manic episode triggered by her father's anniversary!
We will claim she imagined her role at Sterling Group!
If we get a judge to sign an emergency psychiatric hold tonight, her legal actions will be suspended pending a competency hearing!
Do you understand me?
Sign the petition!"
Eleanor nodded frantically, her face pale and damp with tears.
"Yes!
Yes, Julian!
Whatever you need!
She cannot take our home!
She cannot take our cars!
I will tell the judge she was violent!
I will tell them she threw plates at me!"
Chloe pulled her phone out, her voice shaking with panic.
"Julian, look at the business channels!
The ticker symbol for Vance Enterprises has dropped forty-eight percent in after-hours trading!
The banks are executing automatic loan recalls!
We have thirty minutes before the entire firm is delisted!"
"Call Dr.
Kaufman right now!" Julian roared at Victoria.
"Tell him to dispatch the medical transport team to the St.
Regis immediately!
We will have Clara restrained and sedated before she leaves the building!"
The heavy oak door of the ante-room rattled twice, followed by the metallic click of a master key turning in the lock.
Julian spun around, raising his fists in desperate fury as the door swung open.
Standing in the doorway was not a frightened Clara, but Arthur Pendleton, accompanied by four agents wearing windbreakers with gold lettering:
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION — FINANCIAL CRIMES DIVISION.
Beside them stood an elderly man in a dark overcoat, his head bowed in shame.
It was Dr.
Kaufman, Julian’s private physician.
Julian’s jaw dropped, his hands falling limp to his sides.
"Dr.
Kaufman?" Julian whispered, his chest tightening with sudden terror.
"What...
what are you doing with these agents?"
Dr.
Kaufman refused to look Julian in the eye, staring intently at the parquet floor.
"I'm sorry, Julian," Dr.
Kaufman mumbled softly.
"Federal agents intercepted my office two hours ago.
They had the complete audio recording of you offering me five hundred thousand dollars to fabricate Clara’s psychiatric evaluation.
I have signed a full confession and surrendered all medical records to the United States Attorney."
Special Agent Marcus Vance stepped forward, pulling a pair of steel handcuffs from his utility belt.
"Julian Vance and Victoria Cross," Agent Marcus declared, his voice cutting through the suffocating air of the room.
"You are under arrest for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bank fraud, interstate extortion, and unlawful deprivation of civil rights.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."
Victoria screamed, falling backward onto the sofa as two female agents stepped forward to secure her wrists behind her back.
"No!
Julian forced me!" Victoria shrieked, pointing her bound hands at Julian with wild desperation.
"He set up the Cayman shell company!
He told me he would marry me and buy me a townhouse in London if I signed the transfer authorizations!
He is the mastermind!
Arrest him, not me!"
Julian stared at Victoria, the woman he had chosen over his wife, watching her betray him within thirty seconds of capture.
"You lying snake!" Julian lunged toward Victoria, but two federal agents tackled him against the oak paneling, twisting his arms behind his back.
The cold steel clicked shut around Julian's wrists, cutting off the circulation to his fingers.
Eleanor Vance began to hyperventilate on the sofa, clutching Chloe as the reality of federal prison descended upon their golden prince.
"Julian!" Eleanor wailed, her voice echoing down the hallway.
"My son!
My brilliant son!"
Julian did not look at his mother.
He looked toward the open doorway, where I stood quietly in the corridor, watching the handcuffs lock around his wrists.
"Clara..." Julian choked out, his voice reduced to a broken, pathetic rasp.
"Please...
we were married for eight years...
forgive me...
talk to them...
you have the power to stop this..."
I looked at the man who had ordered me to stay home and scrub dishes while he celebrated his greed.
May you like
"You told me tonight that everything you had was because of you, Julian," I said, my voice completely devoid of hatred or sorrow.
"Now, you can take full credit for where you are going."
