Chapter 7 - The Depths of Bankruptcy
At precisely six o'clock the following morning,
the sun rose over the glass skyscrapers of the financial district,
casting long,
cold shadows across the city streets.
Daniel had spent the night sleeping on a plastic bench in a twenty-four-hour diner,
his wrinkled suit smelling of stale coffee and sweat.
Evelyn had refused to sit on the diner chairs,
spending the entire night sitting in the lobby of a cheap motel nearby,
complaining bitterly about the dust,
the smell,
and the lack of room service.
Daniel walked toward Apex Tower with heavy,
sluggish steps.
His eyes were bloodshot,
his jaw dark with stubble,
his confidence entirely shattered.
"It doesn't matter,"
he muttered to himself over and over again like a desperate mantra as he approached the glass entrance of his corporate office.
"The mansion was hers,"
"the luxury cars were hers,"
"but Apex Logistics is mine."
"I built the client list."
"I managed the contracts."
"I am the brain of this company."
"As long as I have the firm,"
"I can rebuild everything in two years."
He pushed through the heavy glass doors of the lobby,
stepping toward the executive elevator bank.
He pulled his gold-plated keycard from his pocket and tapped it against the electronic scanner.
A loud,
harsh buzzer sounded.
ACCESS DENIED: CARD REVOKED.
Daniel tapped it again,
harder this time,
banging his palm against the smooth brass sensor.
ACCESS DENIED: AUTHORIZATION EXPIRED.
"Mr. Vance,"
a deep voice called out from behind him.
Daniel turned around quickly to see two uniformed security guards walking over from the main reception desk,
accompanied by Mark,
his Chief Financial Officer.
"Mark!"
Daniel yelled,
rushing toward his CFO like a drowning man grasping at a floating piece of wood.
"Tell these guards to clear my access!"
"There's been a glitch with the security system!"
"We have an eight o'clock meeting with the European freight directors!"
Mark stood there,
holding a thick leather briefcase,
his expression filled with deep,
unforgiving disappointment.
"There is no meeting,
Daniel,"
Mark said quietly,
refusing to make direct eye contact.
"The European freight directors canceled their contracts at midnight."
"They were informed by Vanguard Global that our firm's primary operating capital line has been permanently severed."
"What?"
Daniel gasped,
grabbing Mark by the lapels of his suit jacket.
"You are the CFO!"
"Find another line of credit!"
"Transfer funds from our reserve accounts!"
"What reserve accounts,
Daniel?"
Mark shouted back,
shaking Daniel's hands off his chest with sudden fury.
"Our entire reserve account was backed by Carter Holdings!"
"Every single safety net we had for the last four years was underwritten by your wife's parent company!"
"Without her backing,"
"we aren't just broke—we are millions of dollars in debt!"
The security guards stepped in,
grabbing Daniel's arms and stepping between him and Mark.
"Step back,
Mr. Vance,"
the head guard commanded sternly.
"You are no longer permitted on the executive floors."
"By order of the Board of Directors,"
"an emergency vote was held at seven o'clock this morning."
Mark pulled a signed document from his briefcase and held it up to Daniel's pale face.
"You were unanimously removed as Chief Executive Officer,
Daniel,"
Mark said,
his voice sharp as a razor.
"The board discovered that over the past thirty-six months,"
"you diverted over three hundred thousand dollars of company funds directly into your mother's personal accounts under the guise of fake consulting fees."
"That is corporate embezzlement."
"That is grand fraud."
Daniel felt his knees go completely weak.
He stumbled backward,
supported only by the tight grip of the security guards on his arms.
"No..."
Daniel stammered,
sweat breaking out across his forehead.
"My mother...
she needed an allowance..."
"I thought...
I thought the investor capital covered that..."
"The investor capital was Emily's money,
you fool!"
Mark spat,
his eyes burning with intense hatred.
"She allowed you to play executive because she loved you!"
"She covered your tracks!"
"She signed off on your audit discrepancies every single quarter so you wouldn't go to federal prison!"
"And you slapped her?"
"You threw her out of her own house in front of your mother?"
"Are you completely out of your mind?"
Before Daniel could process the crushing weight of Mark's words,
the main doors of the lobby opened.
Two federal investigators wearing dark blue windbreakers with silver badges pinned to their belts walked steadily into the building.
They walked straight up to Daniel,
pulling a folded piece of paper from an official folder.
"Daniel Vance?"
the lead federal agent asked,
his tone cold,
procedural,
and completely unyielding.
"Yes..."
Daniel squeaked out,
his voice barely audible in the grand marble lobby.
"We have a warrant for your arrest,"
the agent announced clearly,
pulling a pair of steel handcuffs from his belt.
"You are being charged with federal tax evasion,
wire fraud,
and corporate embezzlement."
"You have the right to remain silent."
May you like
"Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."
The metallic click of the handcuffs echoing off the high marble walls of his own building was the last sound Daniel heard before his world went entirely black.
