Chapter 6 - The Public Liquidation
The color drained completely from Natalie’s face. She turned to look at Daniel, her eyes wide with shock and sudden realization. "You said she was just a housewife! You said she had no money of her own!"
Daniel couldn't answer. His mouth worked silently, his posture collapsing under the gaze of every senior executive in the room.
"I let Daniel manage our public profile because I believed in supporting my husband," I said, my voice carrying clearly across the table. "I ran his home, I built his network, and I protected his reputation. But when a man begins transferring corporate assets into private shell companies, my loyalty shifts from protecting him to protecting the truth."
Arthur pulled a sleek leather folder from his jacket and laid it beside the centerpiece on the main table. "Daniel, effective immediately, the board has suspended your executive privileges pending a full internal investigation into Vance Holding LLC. Your corporate credit cards have been canceled, and your access to the firm's servers was revoked twenty minutes ago."
At that exact moment, Daniel’s phone buzzed violently in his pocket. Then it buzzed again. And again.
He pulled it out with trembling fingers. The screen lit up with notification after notification:
ALERT: Transaction Declined at The Grand Regency Hotel. ALERT: Direct Deposit Authorization Revoked. ALERT: Corporate Vehicle Access Locked.
Natalie looked down at his phone screen, seeing the decline alerts flashing red. She looked at Daniel's pathetic, ill-fitting tuxedo. She looked at Arthur Pendelton, and then finally, she looked at me.
"You lied to me," Natalie hissed at Daniel, taking a step back from him as if he were contagious. "You told me you controlled the family trust!"
"Natalie, wait!" Daniel begged, reaching for her wrist. "I can explain! Everything is just frozen temporarily!"
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"Don't touch me!" she snapped, pulling away violently. "I gave up eight months of my life listening to you whine about your marriage because you promised me capital for my startup! You don't have anything!"
Without another word, she turned on her red high heels and stormed out of the ballroom, leaving Daniel standing completely alone under the glare of the crystal chandeliers.
