Chapter 6 - The Exit of the Predators
Morning broke over the city, casting a harsh, unyielding light across the financial district.
Outside the sleek glass-and-steel headquarters of Vance Technologies, a small crowd of morning commuters and tabloid reporters had already gathered. Word of the sudden federal investigation and the total collapse of the firm’s stock had leaked to the financial press overnight.
Inside the lobby, the atmosphere was chaotic.
Security guards hired by the building management were boxing up corporate documents and turning away employees as they arrived for work. Federal marshals stood near the elevators, holding federal subpoena notices and asset-seizure warrants.
Into this storm strode Celeste Arden.
She had not slept. Her designer makeup was smeared, her hair was pulled back into a frantic, messy ponytail, and she was still wearing a wrinkled, high-end trench coat over the same evening gown she had worn to the gala the night before.
She pushed past a building security guard, heading straight for the executive elevators.
"Ma'am, you cannot enter," the guard said, stepping into her path. "Vance Technologies has been placed under emergency receivership by order of the federal bankruptcy court."
"Do you know who I am?!" Celeste shrieked, her voice echoing off the marble walls of the lobby. "My family owns half the commercial real estate in this zip code! Get your hands off me!"
"Lady, I don't care if your family owns the moon," a federal marshal chimed in, stepping forward with a cold, professional glare. "The entire building is locked down. Mr. Daniel Vance is currently being detained for questioning regarding corporate embezzlement, wire fraud, and conspiracy."
Celeste staggered backward as if she had been physically slapped. "Detained? Where is he?"
"Federal holding facility downtown," the marshal replied flatly. "And if you don't leave the premises immediately, you'll be joining him for interference with a federal investigation."
Panic, pure and blinding, seized Celeste. She turned on her heel and sprinted out of the lobby, nearly tripping over her own heels as flashbulbs from paparazzi hiding across the street suddenly went off in her face. Reporters shouted questions, thrusting microphones toward her face.
“Ms. Arden, is it true your family is bankrupt?” “Did you know Daniel Vance was under investigation?” “Do you have a comment on the Whitmore family lawsuit?”
Celeste threw her hands over her face, shoving past the wall of cameras, and scrambled blindly into the back of a waiting taxi, slamming the door shut.
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"Drive!" she screamed at the driver. "Just drive anywhere!"
As the taxi sped away into the morning traffic, Celeste stared out the window at the towering glass skyline of the city—a city where, less than twenty-four hours ago, she had believed she and Daniel were untouchable gods. Now, they were pariahs, cast out into the cold with nothing left but the bitter taste of their own destruction.
