Chapter 5 - The Desperate Move
By Tuesday morning, the financial news broke across Boston.
Mercer Logistics Faces Imminent Bankruptcy as Rhodes Capital Pulls Out of Acquisition Deal.
The stock price of Marcus’s company collapsed by eighty percent within two hours of the market opening. Creditors swarmed his headquarters, freezing his corporate bank accounts and repossessing delivery fleets.
I sat in my office at Rhodes Capital, reviewing our Q3 legal briefs, when my desk phone rang. It was the front desk security guard.
"Mrs. Rhodes, there is a woman in the lobby demanding to see you. She says her name is Chloe Vance. She’s creating a significant disturbance."
I looked at the clock. 11:30 AM.
"Send her up," I said calmly. "And have two security officers wait outside my office door."
Five minutes later, Chloe burst through my office doors.
She looked nothing like the glamorous, smirking woman from the wedding reception. Her designer dress was crumpled, her makeup was smeared, and her eyes were red-rimmed and frantic.
"You monster!" Chloe screamed, slamming her purse onto my glass coffee table. "You planned this! You intentionally ruined Marcus just to get revenge on us!"
I didn't stand up. I casually set my fountain pen down on my desk and looked at her. "I didn't force Marcus to commit financial fraud, Chloe. He did that all by himself. I simply pointed it out to the people he was trying to steal from."
"He didn't steal anything!" Chloe cried out, tears streaming down her cheeks. "He built that company! We worked so hard for that house in Weston! The bank sent us an eviction notice this morning! They're locking us out on Friday!"
"Then I suggest you start packing," I replied coldly. "You should be familiar with packing up other people's property. After all, you were very comfortable making yourself at home in my house five years ago."
Chloe flinched, taking a step back as if physical blow had hit her. "That was five years ago, Evelyn! Marcus didn't love you! He loved me! Why couldn't you just let us go? You have Julian Rhodes! You have money! You have everything! Why do you need to destroy us?"
"I didn't destroy you, Chloe," I said, leaning forward, resting my elbows on the mahogany desk. "Marcus destroyed himself the moment he decided that honesty, integrity, and loyalty were optional. When he took everything from our joint accounts five years ago, he left me with nothing because he thought I was weak. But I built my life back up through hard work and truth. Marcus built his life on a foundation of lies. Don't blame me because his house caught fire when the wind blew."
Chloe’s chest heaved as she stared at me. For the first time, she saw the vast, unbridgeable gulf between us. She wasn't standing in front of the quiet, compliant wife she had helped betray. She was standing in front of a woman who wielded real power.
"Please..." Chloe whimpered, dropping her tough facade entirely, sinking onto the edge of a leather sofa. "Please talk to Julian. Ask him to give Marcus an extension on the loan. Just six months. We'll sell the house, we'll pay back whatever we owe... just don't send him to prison."
I paused, looking at her with a mixture of pity and resolve.
May you like
"Prison isn't up to Julian, Chloe," I said softly. "The Federal Securities and Exchange Commission opened a formal criminal investigation into Mercer Logistics two hours ago. My legal team handed over the audited ledgers this morning."
Chloe’s face turned completely white. She slowly stood up, pulled her purse to her chest, and backed out of my office without saying another word.
