Chapter 7 - THE DOWNFALL
The color drained completely from Eric’s face.
“Arrest?!” he shrieked, backing away toward the center of the hallway. “Are you insane?! This is a domestic dispute! It’s a misunderstanding! I didn't hit her!”
“You forcefully dragged her from a vehicle, inflicted physical injury, and abandoned a person in medical distress without means of communication,” Officer Rodriguez said coldly, advancing on him. “Turn around and put your hands behind your back.”
“No! You don't understand who I am!” Eric panicked, pulling out his cell phone. “I just got promoted to Regional Director at Westlake Financial! You can’t do this to me! Let me call my attorney!”
Two more officers, summoned by Rodriguez, rounded the corner of the hallway. Before Eric could dial a number, Officer Rodriguez grabbed his wrist, twisted it cleanly behind his back, and snapped a cold steel handcuff over his right wrist.
“Eric Vance, you have the right to remain silent,” Rodriguez read off his card, forcing Eric’s other arm behind him and clicking the second cuff into place. “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law...”
“Claire!” Eric screamed as he was turned around and pushed toward the elevators, his slick hair falling into his eyes, his composure entirely destroyed. “Claire, tell them to stop! You’re ruining my career! Do you hear me?! You’re ruining everything!”
The elevator doors opened, and the nurses and staff watched in utter silence as the newly minted Regional Director was marched out of the maternity ward in handcuffs.
The next morning, the consequences of Eric’s actions hit him with the force of a freight train.
Because Eric had missed his mandatory post-promotion HR onboarding meeting that morning—being held in a county jail cell—his division president called his phone. When a police clerk answered the department line and confirmed that Mr. Vance was currently detained on felony charges of domestic battery and reckless endangerment, the corporate reaction was instantaneous.
By 11:00 AM, Westlake Financial issued an official statement terminating Eric’s employment effective immediately, citing a violation of their corporate ethics and public conduct policy. The promotion was revoked and handed directly to his rival, Miller.
Furthermore, Dana—the brave delivery driver who had saved me—happened to have a dashboard camera on her minivan.
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When the police reviewed her footage, it clearly showed Eric’s grey sedan parked on the deserted road, Eric aggressively pulling a visibly pregnant woman out of the passenger side, shoving her down onto the pavement, and speeding away while she reached for the door.
The video footage rendered Eric’s legal defense completely useless. His high-priced defense attorney took one look at the tape and told Eric that if he took this to a jury trial, he would be facing up to three years in state prison.
