Chapter 5 - The Collapse of Sterling Holdings
By noon, the financial markets had reacted with historic brutality. Sterling Enterprises stock plummeted eighty-seven percent within thirty minutes of trading before the New York Stock Exchange halted all transactions. Creditors, terrified of Vance Global's wrath, recalled hundreds of millions in short-term loans. Vendors refused shipments, and Daniel's board of directors resigned en masse via public press releases.
Inside the executive boardroom of Vance Tower, I stood overlooking Central Park. Arthur entered silently, bowing his head.
"Miss Vance, the Sterling family is at the front lobby," he said.
"Which ones?" I asked, sipping iced mint tea.
"Daniel’s mother, Evelyn Sterling, and his younger brother, Marcus. They are causing an intolerable scene. Mrs. Sterling is demanding to see you, claiming you are destroying her innocent family."
I set my glass down. "Send them to Conference Room B. Let them wait thirty minutes. Then bring them to me."
When I finally entered the conference room, Evelyn Sterling rushed forward, her designer coat disheveled, her face streaked with mascara. For seven years, this woman had made me serve her tea on my knees, constantly criticizing my cooking, my clothes, and mocking my supposed lack of pedigree.
"Elena! What is the meaning of this madness?!" Evelyn shrieked, her voice shrill with indignation. "Do you have any idea what you've done to my son?! He is sitting in a dungeon like a common criminal! The banks are seizing my home! Marcus’s trust fund has been frozen! Call your father off right now!"
Marcus, a spoiled twenty-four-year-old who lived on Daniel’s allowances, sneered behind her. "You gold-digging psycho, you think just because you have daddy's money now you can ruin our lives? Daniel should have hit you harder!"
The air in the room instantly turned sub-zero.
Before Marcus could take another breath, two Vance security operatives seized him by the arms, slamming him face-first onto the polished mahogany conference table with bone-rattling force.
"Ah! Mom! Help!" Marcus screamed in terror.
"Marcus!" Evelyn screamed, lunging forward, but Arthur blocked her path with a single outstretched arm.
I walked slowly over to Evelyn, looking down into her panicked eyes. "You called me a gold digger, Evelyn. For seven years, Daniel’s company survived only because my father secretly guaranteed his credit lines behind the scenes. Every diamond around your neck, every luxury trip to Milan, was funded by Vance collateral."
Evelyn stared at me, her mouth opening and closing like a suffocating fish. "N-no... Daniel built his business..."
"Daniel couldn't build a doghouse without stealing the blueprints," I said coldly. "He whipped me twenty times while your precious daughter-in-to-be recorded it on her phone. Did you think you would inherit an empire on my broken bones?"
I leaned down to Marcus, whose face was mashed against the wood. "Arthur, file the supplemental civil suit against Marcus Sterling for the embezzled payroll accounts we discovered this morning. Take his sports cars. Take his penthouse. Leave him with the clothes on his back."
May you like
"Elena, please!" Evelyn dropped to her knees, clutching at the hem of my white trousers. "Have mercy! We are family!"
"We were never family," I said, stepping back so her manicured hands grasped empty air. "Security, throw them onto the street. If they step on Vance property again, arrest them for criminal trespassing."
