Chapter 5 - The Corporate Counter-Attack
While Chloe was trading her freedom for a plea deal with federal prosecutors, Julian was fighting a war on two fronts across Chicago.
By Tuesday afternoon, the board of directors at Vance Development had convened an emergency session. Armed with the forensic audit Marcus and Rebecca had compiled overnight, the senior partners didn't wait for due process. They voted unanimously to suspend Julian as president, freeze his corporate stock options, and lock him out of all company facilities.
Julian tried to retaliate.
He drove straight to our home in Evanston, pounding on the front door with frantic, desperate fists while shouting my name.
From the upstairs window, I watched him. His tailored suit was rumpled, his tie missing, his hair wild. He looked like a man who had spent his entire life building a porcelain tower, only to watch it shatter into dust under his own weight.
“Claire! Open the door! We need to talk about this like adults!” Julian yelled, his voice cracking with panic. “You’re destroying everything we built! Think of Leo!”
Leo walked into the bedroom behind me, holding a small wooden block he used for building models. He looked down through the glass at his father, his expression completely calm—not angry, not frightened, just profoundly detached.
“Should I call Uncle Prescott or the police, Mom?” Leo asked quietly.
“Let’s call security first,” I said, wrapping my arm around my son’s shoulders. “Your father is about to learn that actions have consequences.”
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Before I could dial, a black sedan pulled into our driveway. Two federal marshals stepped out, flanked by local police. They didn’t bother arguing with Julian at the front door; they slapped steel handcuffs onto his wrists right there on our front porch, reading him his Miranda rights as neighbors peered curiously from behind their living room curtains.
Julian caught sight of me standing at the upstairs window. His eyes widened in absolute horror and betrayal, his lips forming silent pleas that were instantly drowned out by the slam of the police cruiser door.
