Chapter 5 - The Collapse of an Empire
“That is a complete fabrication!” Margaret screamed, pulling off her dark sunglasses to reveal angry red welts and weeping, irritated skin around her eyes. “She broke into my home! She sprayed toxic chemicals in my face! She’s trying to ruin my son because she’s a bitter, hormonal—”
“Silence, Margaret,” I snapped, the authority in my tone cutting through her hysterics like a scalpel.
I turned my gaze to Sarah Jenkins and pushed a manila folder across the table.
“Inside that folder,” I said steadily, “you will find certified bank statements, loan agreements, and corporate asset transfers proving that over the last three years, NextGen Innovations has not generated a single dollar of organic revenue. Every salary Ethan drew, every server fee paid, and every luxury car parked in his driveway was funded directly out of my personal business accounts. He is not a tech pioneer. He is a professional parasite.”
Ethan finally snapped. He jumped up, slamming his fists onto the table.
“Shut up, Ava! You loved me! You wanted this family! You said you’d build our future together!”
“I wanted a partner, Ethan,” I replied, looking at him with absolute, freezing pity. “Not a dependent who treats my womb like a bank vault and my independence as his personal inheritance.”
Arthur Vance, the elder venture capitalist, leaned forward, his face hardening into granite. He looked at Ethan with utter disgust.
“Is this true, boy? Did you let this young woman fund your entire lifestyle while you and your mother plotted to rob her?”
Ethan stammered, looking frantically between the investors and his mother. “It—it was an investment! She’s exaggerating! We were getting married!”
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“The deal is dead,” Sarah Jenkins said coldly, standing up and gathering her tablet. “Bank of America is formally withdrawing consideration for the bridge loan. Furthermore, we are initiating a forensic audit on all accounts associated with NextGen. Good day to you all.”
The directors stood up in unison and walked out of the room, leaving Ethan and Margaret stranded in the center of the wreckage they had built.
