Chapter 7 - Total Ruin
Spencer looked around the room.
The people who had kissed his ring thirty minutes ago were looking at him as if he were a diseased rat. Former business partners turned their backs. Socialite women pulled their skirts away as if his very presence was infectious.
"Gwen... please," Spencer crawled two steps forward on his knees, reaching toward the hem of her black velvet gown. "Think of our marriage! Six years! We built a life! Think of Hazel—she needs her father! I made a mistake, Cassandra manipulated me, she tricked me!"
Cassandra’s head snapped toward Spencer, her eyes bulging. "What?! Spencer, you lying bastard! You told me you hated her! You told me you couldn't wait to kick her out onto the street!"
"Shut up!" Spencer screamed back, completely losing his mind in front of three hundred elite witnesses. "You ruined my life! You hit the child! Gwen, it was all Cassandra! I swear to God, I love you! I’ve always loved you!"
Gwen looked down at him. There was no hatred in her eyes. There was no anger.
There was only the absolute, chilling absence of feeling.
"You don't love me, Spencer," Gwen said softly. "You love the illusion of power. And tonight, you watch it die."
Two men in impeccably tailored dark suits walked through the crowd, followed by a representative from Cartier flanked by two armed security couriers.
The Cartier representative stopped in front of Cassandra, holding a legal repossession order.
"Miss Cassandra Miller," the representative said crisply. "Under clause 14 of the high-jewelry loan agreement, Cartier reserves the right to terminate lease agreements in the event of public moral turpitude or criminal association. Remove the necklace and earrings immediately."
"No!" Cassandra shrieked, clutching the emeralds and diamonds to her neck. "This is mine! Spencer leased it for me!"
"Remove it, or our security team will physically detach it and file grand larceny charges with the officers waiting at the door," the representative stated coldly.
Sobbing hysterically, Cassandra’s trembling, bloodied fingers fumbled with the clasp. When she couldn't open it, the armed courier stepped forward, expertly unhooked the diamond cascade, and dropped it into a velvet-lined steel case, snapping it shut.
Cassandra sat on the floor, stripped of her jewels, her dress torn, covered in spilled champagne, looking utterly ruined.
Patricia Albright collapsed onto a nearby banquet chair, hyperventilating, clutching her chest as two federal agents stepped into the circle.
Special Agent Miller of the Federal Bureau of Investigation displayed his badge directly before Spencer Albright’s sweating face.
"Spencer Albright?"
Spencer looked up, trembling violently. "Yes...?"
"You are under arrest pursuant to a federal warrant issued by the Southern District of California. Charges include twenty-four counts of wire fraud, securities manipulation, bank fraud, and interstate money laundering involving Albright Enterprises' offshore holding entities."
Spencer’s eyes rolled back. "No... no, that's impossible..."
"We also have a state warrant for Cassandra Miller," a uniformed LAPD detective added, stepping forward with handcuffs drawn. "Felony child abuse causing severe bodily injury, and domestic assault."
Cassandra screamed as the cold steel handcuffs clicked around her wrists. "Get your hands off me! Spencer, do something! Call our lawyers!"
"What lawyers, Cassandra?" Gwen spoke, her voice cutting through Cassandra’s screeching like a razor. "Albright Enterprises was declared insolvent thirty minutes ago. Every corporate account has been seized by the Department of Justice. The retainer accounts for your legal defense firm have been frozen as proceeds of fraud."
Gwen took half a step forward, looking down at Spencer as the federal agents hauled him to his feet.
Spencer looked at her, his eyes wild with terror and despair.
"Gwen... what am I supposed to do? What about my mother? What about the house?!"
"The Bel Air house was purchased using funds from a subordinated credit facility backed by Vance Capital," Alexander Vance said, his voice dropping like an iron portcullis. "Eviction notices will be served to your mother at dawn tomorrow. Every car, every painting, every watch in your safe belongs to the bankruptcy trustee."
Spencer began to cry, thick, pathetic tears rolling down his cheeks, smearing across his designer tuxedo.
"Gwen... please. Just let me see Hazel. Let me apologize to my daughter!"
Gwen met his eyes for the last time.
"Hazel has no father," Gwen said, her voice ringing with the finality of an iron door slamming shut. "She only has a mother who will burn your entire world to ashes to keep her safe. Take him away."
The ballroom watched in absolute, mesmerized silence as Spencer Albright, weeping and begging like a dog, was dragged in handcuffs across the grand floor, past the flashing cameras of the press, and pushed into the back of a waiting federal transport van.
Cassandra was dragged right behind him, kicking and screaming, her makeup ruined, an object of utter national disgrace.
Patricia sat in the corner, clutching her purse, ignored by everyone, a penniless old woman whose aristocratic fantasy had been dismantled in less than two hours.
Gwen turned back to her father.
Alexander Vance offered his arm once more.
May you like
Gwen took it. She held her head high, the *Aethelgard Diamond* blazing with triumphant fire against her chest, and together, they walked out of the ballroom.
***
