Chapter 15 - The Corporate Fallout
The news of the courtroom disaster leaked to the financial press before we even reached the parking lot.
Headlines shifted from my supposed infidelity to Julian Vance’s massive criminal fraud and perjury scandal.
The board of directors for his tech company held an emergency meeting that very same afternoon.
Investors panicked, dumping their pre-IPO shares at a massive, catastrophic loss.
Julian's net worth plummeted by hundreds of millions of dollars in a matter of hours.
Harrison and I sat in his office, watching the financial news networks cover the total collapse of Julian's empire.
"The board just invoked the morality clause in his contract," Harrison announced, reading a breaking news alert on his tablet.
"They officially ousted him as CEO and stripped him of his majority voting rights."
Julian had sacrificed his marriage, his morals, and his child just to protect his precious company.
And in his arrogance, he had ultimately destroyed the very thing he loved most.
My phone rang, displaying an unknown, restricted number.
I answered it and put it on speakerphone, knowing exactly who was on the other end.
"Evelyn," Julian's voice croaked, sounding entirely unrecognizable, stripped of all its former power.
"Please... tell them you forged the documents. I will give you anything you want."
He was begging. The great Julian Vance was finally begging me for mercy.
"You told me that baby was an insult," I replied, my voice completely cold and steady.
"You told me to prove the truth on my own time. Well, Julian, I just did."
"I have nothing left, Evelyn," he sobbed, the sound pathetic and entirely hollow.
May you like
"You have exactly what you deserve," I said, ending the call and permanently blocking his number.
The war was over, and the enemy was entirely vanquished.
