Chapter 6 - The Fall of the House of Albright
By 10:00 p.m., the Grand Pinnacle Gala had devolved into a nightmare for the Albright family.
While the elite guests carried on enjoying the champagne, treating Spencer like an infectious disease, team after team of law enforcement officers and federal agents flooded into the venue.
CLACK! CLACK! CLACK!
The sharp sound of steel handcuffs clicking shut echoed near the grand entrance of the ballroom.
"Spencer Albright," a senior special agent from the FBI announced, displaying a signed federal arrest warrant. "You are under arrest for wire fraud, offshore tax evasion, and illegal securities manipulation totaling over eighty-five million dollars."
"No! Get your hands off me!" Spencer screamed, flailing as two agents dragged him toward the doors. "This is a lie! Evelyn set me up! She forged those documents!"
"The documents were pulled directly from your private servers in Zurich, Mr. Albright," the agent replied coldly, forcing Spencer's head down as they led him through the crowd of camera flashes. "Your Chief Financial Officer, Marcus, just signed a full confession ten minutes ago in exchange for a plea deal."
Outside the hotel lobby, news reporters and paparazzi were lined up twenty deep, their cameras flashing like lightning bolts in the dark.
"Spencer! Over here! Is it true Albright Enterprises is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy tonight?" "Spencer, did you know your wife was the Vance Dynasty heiress?" "Cassandra, comment on the assault charges filed against you!"
Cassandra was being escorted out by local LAPD officers, crying hysterically as her designer gown was smeared with dirt from her fall. She was being formally charged with felony child abuse and battery for striking five-year-old Hazel.
"Spencer, do something!" Cassandra wailed, her mascara running down her face in dark black streams. "You said you were rich! You said you were going to buy me a yacht!"
"Shut up, you stupid bitch!" Spencer shrieked back at her, his hands bound behind his back in cold steel. "You ruined my life! If you hadn't hit that brat, none of this would have happened!"
From the high balcony on the third floor of the hotel, Evelyn stood side by side with her father, watching the flashing red and blue lights of the police cruisers fading into the Los Angeles night.
Lord Arthur Vance wrapped a warm arm around his daughter's shoulders. "It is done, my child. The Albright family name will be wiped from the financial markets by tomorrow morning. Every asset they owned—their Bel Air mansion, their vehicles, their art collection—has been seized by Vance Capital to settle their outstanding debts."
Evelyn didn't feel a surge of wild glee. She felt a deep, profound sense of release—as if a heavy iron chain that had bound her chest for six years had finally snapped away, allowing her to breathe fresh air for the first time.
"And Hazel?" Evelyn asked gently.
"She is resting comfortably at our private estate in Malibu," Lord Vance smiled, his eyes softening. "The dental surgeon finished the procedure an hour ago. She is watching cartoons and eating strawberry ice cream. She asked when her brave Mommy was coming home."
Evelyn smiled, a genuine, radiant warmth filling her heart. "I'm coming home right now, Father."
"Wait, Evelyn," Thomas said, stepping up to the balcony holding a sleek silver tablet. "There is one final matter regarding the Bel Air mansion."
Evelyn turned to look at Thomas. "What about it?"
"The deed to the Albright property was seized twenty minutes ago," Thomas explained, handing her a electronic pen. "Since the original land belonged to a Vance subsidiary before Spencer's father leased it thirty years ago, the entire estate legally defaults to you. What are your instructions for the house?"
Evelyn looked down at the electronic deed on the screen. She thought about the dark, lonely nights spent in that cold guest room, the endless insults hurled by Eleanor, and the blood spilled on the Italian marble floor.
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"Demolish it," Evelyn commanded without a second's hesitation. "Tear down every stone. Level the ground, plant a forest of oak trees, and build a pediatric dental research hospital in Hazel's name."
Thomas bowed respectfully. "It will be done by tomorrow afternoon, Young Mistress."
