Chapter 9 - The Aftermath
The fall of the Callaway family was the scandal of the decade.
Within a month, the details of the hostile takeover leaked to the press. While the true paternity of Camille’s son remained a whispered rumor in the elite circles, the financial ruin was public knowledge. Preston Callaway, stripped of his wealth and facing mounting legal bills from private lawsuits, suffered a minor stroke and was moved into a modest assisted living facility paid for by Medicare.
Camille, realizing the money was gone and Preston could no longer support her luxury lifestyle, filed for divorce from Weston and attempted to sue for alimony. She was laughed out of court when Vanguard's lawyers provided evidence that the prenup she signed was tied to assets that no longer existed. She eventually moved back to her hometown, taking Leo with her, forced to work as a receptionist at a mid-level accounting firm.
Weston was left completely alone.
He moved into a small, one-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of the city. He tried to get a job in finance, but his reputation was radioactive. Nobody wanted the man who drove a billion-dollar empire into the ground. He ended up taking a job as a mid-level manager at a logistics company, sitting in a grey cubicle, staring at spreadsheets all day.
Every morning, he took the subway. Every morning, he passed a newsstand. And sometimes, he would see her face on the cover of a business magazine.
S.R. Sterling: The Ghost Who Conquered Wall Street.
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He would trace the glossy cover with a calloused finger, a suffocating regret tightening around his throat. He would think of the hospital room. He would think of the soft, pink face of the daughter he had thrown away. He had traded a diamond for a handful of dirt, and he would have to live with the grit in his teeth for the rest of his life.
He was a man who once had everything, now haunted by the ghosts of his own choices.
