Chapter 7 - The Desperate Crawl
Three days after the eviction, Marcus was a man running on fumes and panic. His firm was boarded up, his bank accounts were frozen by federal investigators, and his luxury cars had been repossessed by the banks. Desperation drove him to the only place he thought he could regain leverage: Mercy General Hospital.
He arrived at the main lobby wearing a wrinkled suit, his eyes bloodshot and his hair unkempt. He barged toward the VIP elevators, only to be blocked by a wall of hospital security guards stationed in front of the call buttons.
"I need to see my wife!" Marcus shouted, causing patients and visitors in the lobby to turn and stare. "Elena Vance! She’s on the NICU floor! I’m the father of those children! You can't keep me out!"
The head of security, a burly ex-military officer named Jenkins, didn't flinch. "Your name has been flagged in the hospital security database, Mr. Vance. You have been stripped of all visitation privileges by order of the patient and the hospital board of directors."
"This is illegal!" Marcus screamed, spit flying from his lips as he tried to push past the guard. "She signed the papers! She's penniless! She's playing some kind of sick game with that old man!"
A cold, familiar voice echoed across the polished lobby floor. "The only one playing games here is you, Marcus."
Marcus spun around. Stepping out of a private executive elevator was Jessica Pierce, flanked by two armed process servers. She approached him with the slow, deliberate grace of a predator cornering wounded prey.
"Who the hell are you?" Marcus snarled, backing away slightly.
"I am lead counsel for Elena Sterling," Jessica said clearly, making sure her voice carried to the gathering crowd of onlookers. "And I am here to serve you."
The process servers stepped forward, slapping two thick stacks of legal documents against Marcus’s chest. He reflexively grabbed them before they hit the floor.
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"What is this?" he stammered, looking down at the red legal seals.
"The first stack is a formal petition for divorce, citing infidelity, fraud, and severe emotional abuse," Jessica explained smoothly. "The second stack is a federal subpoena from the Southern District of New York regarding wire fraud and grand larceny. I suggest you use whatever spare change you have left to hire a very good criminal defense attorney. You're going to need one."
