Chapter 4 - The House of Cards Collapses
"You... you bitch," Kevin breathed. The mask of the successful, polished attorney was entirely gone. In its place was a desperate, cornered animal. He lunged toward me, his hands clawing at the air. "You ruined me! I’ll kill you!"
Before he could even get within two feet of me, both police officers slammed him against the wall.
CRACK.
Kevin’s face was pressed hard against the same polished hardwood paneling where he had slapped me twenty minutes earlier. His arms were wrenched behind his back, and the heavy metal click of handcuffs snapping into place echoed through the house.
"Kevin Hamilton, you are under arrest for domestic assault," the male officer barked, pulling him upright.
"Arthur! Arthur, please!" Kevin screamed, his hair messy, his tie askew as he was dragged toward the door. "She’s lying! The documents are forged! Don't let them do this!"
Arthur Vance didn't even look up from the papers. "Officer, please ensure Mr. Hamilton is processed fully. As the managing partner of Vance, Sterling & Croft, I will be personally filing formal criminal charges for grand larceny, embezzlement, and corporate fraud first thing in the morning. And I will ensure the state bar association revokes his license before the sun sets."
"No! No! Mom, do something! Susan!" Kevin yelled as he was hauled out onto the porch.
Barbara was trembling so violently she had to hold onto the hallway table to keep from collapsing. "This can't be happening. This is a nightmare. Susan, call our lawyer!"
"With what money, Mother?" Susan wept, her face covered in smeared makeup. "If Kevin is arrested, and those accounts are frozen... everything is under my name! They're going to arrest me too!"
The female officer turned to Barbara and Susan. "Ladies, I suggest you quiet down. Given the documentation provided here regarding the shell companies, you are both persons of interest in a major federal fraud investigation. Do not leave the city. You will be contacted by detectives within the next twenty-four hours."
Eleanor Vance stepped up to Barbara. The two women had run in the same social circles for years, but now, the gulf between them was infinite.
"Barbara," Eleanor said, her voice dripping with quiet disdain. "I always knew you were a snob. But I never imagined you were the mother of a thief and a wife-beater. Get out of this house. Now."
Barbara opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She looked at me—the girl she had mocked, the girl she had allowed her son to strike—and for the first time, I saw genuine, paralyzing fear in her eyes. She grabbed Susan by the arm, and the two of them hurried out the front door, stumbling into the cold autumn night without their coats.
The door closed behind them.
The house was suddenly massive, empty, and completely still.
Arthur Vance closed the manila folder and looked at me. "Sarah... I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I am. If we had known what he was doing to you, or to our foundation—"
"It's okay, Mr. Vance," I said, wiping the corner of my mouth with the cloth. It came away clean. The bleeding had stopped. "I knew I only had one shot to get away from him cleanly. If I had just filed for divorce, he would have used every legal trick in the book to drain me, drag it out, and leave me with nothing. I had to let him think he was completely safe."
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"You are an incredibly brave woman," Eleanor said, squeezing my hand. "But what will you do now? The house... your safety..."
"I have a plan," I said softly. "I've had one for a long time."
