Chapter 6 - The Cold Dawn of Reality
The flashing lights of fifty news cameras blinded Daniel,
as the heavy security guards dragged him past the velvet ropes.
Evelyn covered her face with her trembling hands,
stumbling on her designer heels,
while the whispering crowd of high society onlookers parted like the Red Sea.
Every single person who had bowed to them an hour ago,
was now holding up their phones,
recording the total annihilation of the Vance family pride.
"Get your hands off me!"
Daniel roared,
his face contorted in a mixture of rage,
humiliation,
and suffocating fear.
"Do you have any idea who I am?"
"I am the CEO of Apex Logistics!"
"I will sue this hotel!"
"I will sue every single one of you!"
The head of security did not even flinch,
his expression cold,
immovable,
and entirely unimpressed.
"You are a trespasser on private property,
Mr. Vance,"
the guard stated flatly,
shoving Daniel through the golden revolving doors into the chilling night air.
"And by explicit order of Chairwoman Emily Carter,"
"you are permanently banned from all properties owned by Vanguard Global."
Evelyn tumbled onto the wet sidewalk behind him,
her expensive designer dress soaking up the muddy rainwater pooling on the asphalt.
"Daniel!"
she shrieked,
her voice high,
piercing,
and filled with hysterical panic.
"My necklace!"
"My coat!"
"They took everything!"
"Call the police!"
"Call your uncle!"
"Call anyone!"
Daniel pulled out his phone,
his fingers shaking so violently that he nearly dropped the device twice.
He frantically dialed his personal attorney,
Richard.
The phone rang four times before going straight to voicemail.
"Richard,
pick up the damn phone!"
Daniel screamed into the receiver,
pacing back and forth on the rainy curb.
"Emily has gone completely insane!"
"She froze my corporate accounts!"
"She locked me out of the mansion!"
"I need an emergency injunction right now!"
A second later,
a text message popped up on Daniel's screen from Richard.
Daniel, do not call me again. Vanguard Global has placed a conflict of interest hold on my firm. I have been retained by Miss Carter's legal division. Good luck.
Daniel stared at the glowing screen,
his breath catching in his throat as if he had been struck in the chest with a sledgehammer.
"No,"
he whispered,
his voice cracking under the weight of sudden realization.
"No,
no,
no!"
"Daniel,
what did he say?"
Evelyn cried,
clutching his arm with her long,
manicured nails that were now chipped and dirty.
"When are we getting back into the house?"
"I left my solid gold jewelry box in the master suite!"
"Shut up,
Mother!"
Daniel yelled,
shaking her off with a violent jerk.
"Just shut up for one second!"
He marched toward the hotel valet stand,
where his customized sports car was parked under the grand canopy.
"Key,"
Daniel demanded,
extending his hand toward the young valet attendant.
The valet attendant looked at him with pity,
shaking his head slowly.
"I'm sorry,
Mr. Vance,"
the boy said softly.
"A flatbed tow truck arrived five minutes ago."
"The vehicle was repossessed under an emergency asset preservation order issued by Vanguard Real Estate Trust."
Daniel stood frozen,
his arm extended in mid-air,
as a yellow tow truck pulled out of the hotel driveway,
hauling his beloved dark blue sports car away into the dark,
rainy night.
Evelyn collapsed onto her knees right there on the concrete,
wailing at the top of her lungs like a grieving widow.
"My life!"
she sobbed,
her makeup running down her wrinkled cheeks in dark,
dirty streaks.
"Everything is gone!"
"How could that worthless girl do this to us?"
"We gave her a roof over her head!"
"We allowed her into our prestigious family!"
Daniel looked down at his mother,
and for the very first time in his life,
he felt a sickening surge of disgust.
For three years,
he had listened to her voice.
He had let her dictate how he treated Emily.
He had let her convince him that he was an untouchable titan of business,
while Emily was just an invisible,
uneducated housewife who brought zero value to his life.
He remembered the feeling of his palm hitting Emily's face just twenty-four hours ago.
He remembered the sharp,
stony quietness in her eyes when she looked back at him.
It wasn't fear in her eyes.
It was complete,
utter contempt.
"Get up,
Mother,"
Daniel said,
his voice hollow,
flat,
and drained of all former arrogance.
"We have to go back to the mansion."
"We have to see if we can get inside before the locksmiths finish."
They managed to flag down a yellow taxicab,
the driver looking suspiciously at the drenched,
disheveled couple smelling of cheap rain and ruin.
The ride across the city was completely silent,
save for Evelyn's quiet,
pitiable whimpers.
When the taxi finally pulled up to the grand iron gates of the estate,
Daniel's heart sank directly into his stomach.
The gates were chained shut with thick,
heavy steel padlocks.
Two armored private security vehicles were parked inside the driveway,
their bright headlights illuminating the torrential downpour.
Sitting right outside the iron bars,
resting directly on the wet grass,
were four plain cardboard boxes.
Daniel slammed his hands against the taxi window.
"Stop here!"
he barked.
He threw his last fifty-dollar bill at the driver and scrambled out into the mud.
He ran up to the cardboard boxes,
his hands tearing through the wet cardboard flaps.
Inside were his old,
inexpensive suits from five years ago.
A few cheap pairs of shoes.
Evelyn's old,
non-designer handbags from before Daniel's firm expanded.
And resting right on top of the clothes in the first box was a single,
laminated document.
It was a certified copy of the original purchase deed for the estate.
At the very bottom,
stamped in dark red ink by the Land Registry Authority,
was the full corporate owner name:
CARTER ENTERPRISES REALTY HOLDINGS LLC.
Below that,
printed in bold,
elegant cursive,
was the signature of the sole managing director:
EMILY CARTER.
Daniel fell to his knees in the cold mud,
holding the paper against his chest as the heavy rain beat down on his shoulders.
He had lived in a palace built by the very woman he had treated like a servant.
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And now,
the gates were locked forever.
