Chapter 6 - The Unraveling of Vanessa
When Ethan was shoved through the revolving glass doors of the Apex skyscraper by two burly private security guards, a light rain was falling over downtown Chicago.
His laptop was gone. His corporate phone had been wiped and confiscated. In his hands, he carried a single cardboard box containing a leather desk pad, a few family photographs he had never bothered to look at, and a brass paperweight.
Across the plaza, standing under the marble awning of the neighboring office tower, was Vanessa.
She was holding an umbrella, wearing her beige trench coat, frantically typing on a brand-new personal smartphone.
The shock that had paralyzed Ethan in the conference room instantly curdled into volcanic, homicidal fury. He dropped the cardboard box onto the wet pavement, letting his framed certificates and personal mementos shatter on the stone, and marched across the plaza toward her.
“You treacherous, lying bitch!” Ethan screamed, his voice turning heads among the sea of commuters rushing through the rain.
Vanessa gasped, nearly dropping her umbrella as she spun around. Her eyes were rimmed in red, her makeup smudged, but when she saw Ethan’s disheveled state—his tie undone, his cardboard box discarded in the rain—her terror quickly morphed into icy, venomous self-preservation.
“Stay away from me, Ethan!” she yelled, backing toward the building entrance. “I’ll scream! I’ll tell security you’re harassing me!”
“You told them I coerced you?” Ethan hissed, lunging forward and grabbing the fabric of her coat sleeve. “You told compliance I forced you into my bed? You were the one who slipped your room key into my portfolio in Miami! You were the one who begged me to buy you that damn necklace at Tiffany’s!”
Vanessa yanked her arm out of his grip with a violent jerk.
“And you were the one who told me you were a multi-millionaire who ran this firm!” Vanessa snarled, stepping into his face, all pretense of the sweet, admiring young analyst completely evaporated. “You told me you owned a three-million-dollar estate in Glenview! You told me your mother was a wealthy socialite who adored you! You told me you were going to be named senior managing director within two years!”
“I am! I was!”
“You’re a fraud!” Vanessa screamed back, her face contorting with disgust. “Your mother hates your guts! Your wife owns the house you sleep in! Your corporate accounts are frozen, and you’re about to be indicted for wire fraud! You think I’m going to go down with you? You think I’m going to let my entire career turn to ashes because an arrogant, middle-aged loser bought me a few dinners and a necklace?”
Ethan raised his hand, shaking with a violent urge he had never felt before. “I gave you everything! I threw away nine years of marriage for you!”
“Nobody asked you to bring me to your house on Friday, Ethan!” Vanessa spat, her words landing like hollow-point bullets. “That was your ego! You wanted to strut into your living room like a conqueror in front of your mother and your wife! You ruined yourself! And you know what the firm’s lawyers told me five minutes ago?”
She stepped closer, smiling a cruel, triumphant smile through her smeared mascara.
“They rejected my immunity deal,” Vanessa whispered, her voice shaking with bitter realization. “They found the emails where I helped you forge the client entertainment logs. They fired me too, Ethan. I’m finished in finance. My reputation is dead. But at least I don't have fifty thousand dollars in hotel bills on a frozen credit card. Goodbye, Ethan. Don't you ever dare call my phone again.”
She turned on her heel and disappeared into the crowd of umbrellas rushing toward the subway entrance, leaving Ethan standing alone in the freezing drizzle.
He stood there for five minutes, completely motionless, as water dripped from the brim of his nose onto his ruined wool sweater.
He pulled his personal phone from his pocket. He needed to book another night at the Langham. He needed to call an elite criminal defense attorney. He needed to get cash.
He opened his banking app.
A bright red banner flashed across the screen:
*ACCOUNT TEMPORARILY RESTRICTED BY COURT ORDER.*
*CASE NO. 2024-D-88912 – COOK COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT.*
*HON. MARGARET CALLAHAN PRESIDING.*
Evelyn Reed had struck.
The emergency motion for a temporary restraining order had been granted. Every personal checking account, every savings reserve, and the offshore wealth account Ethan had secretly funded on Friday night were legally frozen pending the full disclosure of assets.
His available balance read: *$0.00.*
A notification chimed on his screen. A text message from the front desk of the Langham Hotel:
*Dear Mr. Montgomery. The card on file for Suite 1402 has been declined by your financial institution. Please report to the reception desk immediately to provide an alternate form of payment, or your luggage will be locked in the safe and access to your suite terminated.*
May you like
Ethan’s phone slipped from his numb, wet fingers, crashing against the concrete and spiderwebbing the glass screen into a thousand fractured pieces.
***
