Chapter 4 - The Collapse of Vance Capital
Garrett’s hands shook so violently he could barely hold the silver pen Marcus offered him.
“Don't sign it, Garrett!” Vivian screamed, grabbing her son’s arm with manic strength. “She’s bluffing! The Holloway family cares about public image above everything else! They won't risk a public scandal in the Wall Street Journal!”
I looked at Vivian, letting a small, genuine smile cross my face.
“You spent five years studying my family, Vivian,” I said softly. “And yet you understood nothing. My father didn't build this firm by avoiding scandals. He built it by destroying anyone who tried to steal from it.”
I tapped my phone screen. “It’s 8:49 AM, Garrett. One minute.”
Garrett looked at his mother, then at the ten attorneys staring at him with cold, predatory eyes. He realized, with terrifying clarity, that he was utterly alone. The wealthy protective net he thought he had married into had transformed into an iron cage.
He grabbed the pen and signed his name across five signature lines, his ink smudging against his sweaty palms.
“It’s done,” Garrett sobbed, dropping the pen onto the mahogany table. “It’s all done. Now tell them to cancel the arrest warrant!”
Marcus picked up the signed documents, verified every page, and gave me a brief nod.
“Thank you, Garrett,” I said, standing up and buttoning my suit jacket. “Your divorce paperwork will be finalized by the end of the week. You are free to leave.”
Garrett stumbled out of his chair, grabbing his mother’s arm to support her as they hurried toward the glass doors. But as Garrett reached the reception hall, two men in gray suits standing near the elevators stepped forward.
They pulled leather badge holders from their pockets.
“Garrett Vance?” the lead agent asked calmly. “I’m Special Agent Miller with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We have a warrant for your arrest for federal wire fraud, bank fraud, and illegal offshore money laundering.”
Garrett froze, his eyes wide with horror. “No! No! She promised! Claire signed the agreement! She said I wouldn't be arrested!”
I stepped out into the reception hall, standing beside Marcus with my arms crossed over my chest.
“I promised that my firm wouldn't press state larceny charges if you signed the civil settlement, Garrett,” I said clearly, as the FBI agents pulled his arms behind his back and clicked heavy steel handcuffs around his wrists. “I said nothing about the federal authorities. They opened their own investigation three days ago after I filed an anonymous whistleblower report with the SEC.”
Vivian let out a blood-curdling shriek as her son was forced against the glass wall and searched by the federal agents.
“You monster!” Vivian screamed, clawing at her own hair as she rushed toward me. “You set him up! You planned this whole thing!”
The security guards from my lobby caught Vivian by her elbows, pinning her arms gently but firmly behind her.
“I didn't set him up, Vivian,” I said, stepping closer to her until I could smell the stale perfume on her neck. “Garrett stole the money. You spent it. And both of you thought that pouring red wine over my head would make me submit. You brought yourselves to this room.”
Agent Miller turned to Vivian, pulling a second set of handcuffs from his belt.
“Vivian Vance?” Miller asked. “You are also under arrest as a co-conspirator in federal money laundering relating to illicit transfers into Saint Kitts bank accounts.”
Vivian’s eyes rolled back in her head, and she collapsed into the arms of the security guards, sobbing hysterically as the federal agents snapped the cuffs onto her wrists.
The entire executive lobby—filled with fifty traders, analysts, and secretaries—watched in absolute silence as Garrett and Vivian Vance were led out of the Holloway Financial Tower in federal custody.
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As the elevator doors closed behind them, I turned back to my staff.
“Back to work, everyone,” I said calmly. “We have a market to run.”
