Chapter 6 - The Shattered Glass
The aftermath of the shareholder summit was swift and devastating.
By midnight, the board of directors had voted unanimously to terminate Cameron Reed and Sloane Mercer from all executive positions within Vance & Mercer Logistics, effective immediately. Criminal proceedings were formalizing, with the District Attorney’s office opening an active indictment file for corporate fraud, grand larceny, and wire fraud.
Sloane Mercer fled to her family’s estate in Oregon within forty-eight hours, but federal marshals served her with a grand jury subpoena before her plane even left the tarmac.
Cameron’s world collapsed entirely.
Deprived of his salary, his corporate perks, and his standing, he was forced to surrender his luxury sports car and move out of the high-rise apartment he had been renting. His high-priced defense attorneys abandoned him when his retainer checks bounced.
On a chilly afternoon in mid-February, I sat in the legal offices of Vance & Vance to finalize the absolute dissolution of our marriage.
Cameron walked into the room accompanied by a court-appointed public defender. He looked broken. His suit was oversized and wrinkled, his hair unkempt, his face hollow and lined with stress. He looked ten years older than the man who had laughed by the fireplace on New Year’s Eve.
He sat across from me without making eye contact.
Julian Thorne laid the final divorce decree on the table, along with the custody agreement.
“Mr. Reed,” Julian said flatly. “The terms are as follows: Mrs. Reed retains sole legal and physical custody of Liam Arthur Reed and Clara Evelyn Reed. You are granted supervised visitation for two hours every second Saturday, to take place at a court-designated family center, contingent upon your continued participation in anger management and court-ordered counseling.”
Cameron let out a long, ragged breath. He looked up at me, his eyes brimming with tears.
“Dahlia... please,” he choked out, his voice trembling. “Two hours every two weeks? At a supervision center? They’re my kids, Dahlia. Liam... Liam loves me.”
I looked at him calmly. “Liam spent three weeks waking up in the middle of the night crying, asking if he was a bad boy because he couldn't stay awake for your party, Cameron.”
“I made a mistake!” he sobbed, burying his face in his hands. “I was foolish! Sloane manipulated me! She convinced me that you were trying to control me, that I deserved better—I was stupid! Please, don't take my children from me!”
“Sloane didn't hold a gun to your head on New Year’s Eve,” I said, my voice quiet, firm, and immovable. “You chose your pride over your son’s tears. You chose a champagne toast with a stranger over protecting a five-year-old boy who trusted you with his whole heart.”
I signed the final page of the divorce document with a smooth, firm stroke of my pen.
“You aren't being kept from your children, Cameron,” I said, sliding the papers across to his public defender. “You are being kept from harming them while you learn how to be a real father instead of a performer.”
Cameron signed the papers with a shaking hand, his tears dripping onto the pristine white paper.
May you like
When it was over, I stood up, shook hands with Julian and Aunt Evelyn, and walked out of the office into the bright afternoon sunlight.
I felt no vengeance. I felt no hatred. I only felt the vast, clean emptiness of a sky after a terrible storm has finally passed.
