Chapter 6 - The Falling EmpireThe next morning, the financial markets opened to absolute chaos.
Crowe Industries stock plummeted by forty percent within the first hour of trading. The state attorney general’s office, armed with the original contract and the digital backups Camille provided, executed simultaneous raids on corporate headquarters and Richard Vance’s private residence.
Richard was arrested live on financial television, stammering about corporate restructuring and shareholder value as federal agents cuffed him.
Camille watched the broadcast from a small television in Warren’s garage. She had refused to return to her penthouse. Instead, she sat on a folding stool, drinking bad coffee from a styrofoam cup, while Chloe and Calvin played chess on an upturned milk crate in the corner.
“You don’t have to stay here, you know,” Warren said, wiping down a cylinder head at the counter. “The suite at the Fairmont is a bit warmer than this place.”
“I’ve spent seven years in glass towers, Warren,” Camille said, watching Chloe laugh as she captured one of Calvin’s pawns. “It’s amazing how much clearer the air is down here.”
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Warren paused, a faint smile touching the corner of his mouth. “It gets drafty in the winter. And the coffee is terrible.”
“I noticed.”
