Chapter 6 - Paul Prescott’s Surrender
On Thursday morning, the corporate bloodbath came to an official head.
Paul Prescott realized that holding out for a miracle was suicidal. With Vantage Capital calling in its loans and refusing to restructure, his development company was facing forced liquidation by Friday afternoon.
At 11:00 AM, my private secretary buzzed my office at Vantage Capital—I had finally returned to my desk downtown to oversee the dismantling of Trevor’s network.
“Mr. Vance,” she said. “Mr. Paul Prescott is on line one. He says he will sign any release, issue any public statement, and agree to any terms you set, provided you give his company a thirty-day forbearance.”
“Put him through,” I said.
I clicked the speakerphone button on my polished mahogany desk.
“Ray,” Paul’s voice sounded defeated, hollow, and decades older than it had a week ago. “I’m done fighting. My board met this morning. We are signing bankruptcy protection papers unless you agree to talk.”
“I’m listening, Paul,” I said calmly, leaning back in my leather executive chair.
“Name your terms. You want a public apology from Madison? She’ll give it. You want her to resign from any association with the family? Done. You want my company restructured under Vantage Capital ownership? We’ll sign the transfer documents today.”
“Paul, let’s be very clear about something,” I said, my voice cutting through the telephone wire like a scalpel. “Your daughter didn't just insult my family; she committed an unprovoked assault against my wife. Then your son-in-law laughed about it. You raised a woman with zero morals, and you enabled a parasite who thought he could live off my sweat forever.”
“Ray, please... my life’s work is going down the drain. Forty years of building Prescott Development...”
“Then forty years of work is going to vanish because you couldn't teach your daughter basic manners,” I interrupted coldly. “Here are my terms, Paul, and they are non-negotiable.”
There was a terrified pause on the other end. “...Go ahead.”
“First, Vantage Capital will foreclose on the downtown retail project as planned tomorrow morning. We will take full ownership of the land and assets at a fraction of their value to recover our seed capital.”
“Ray, that’s my flagship project! That will wipe me out completely!”
“You should have thought about that before you called me begging for a favor last year,” I continued without breaking rhythm. “Second, Paul Prescott Development will issue a formal, legally binding statement acknowledging that Madison Vance acted with malicious intent, and that the Prescott family takes full responsibility for the social and public disgrace brought upon Catherine and me.”
“And... and Trevor?” Paul whispered. “What about your son?”
“My son is legally dead to me as of Monday morning. Arthur Miller is currently filing papers to sever him from every trust, foundation, and corporate entity bearing the Vance name. By Friday, Trevor won't even be able to use our family name on a resume.”
Paul let out a ragged breath. “Ray... that’s brutal.”
“No, Paul,” I said, standing up and looking out the massive glass window toward the city skyline. “Brutal was watching my wife get shoved into the mud while two hundred people watched and my son laughed. This is just justice.”
“...I’ll sign the papers,” Paul whispered.
“My lawyers will have them delivered to your office by 1:00 PM. Sign them, or I’ll see you in bankruptcy court on Monday.”
May you like
I hung up the phone.
The war was over. The enemy had unconditionally surrendered.
