Chapter 3 - The Bleeding of Harlan Nexus
"Is this some kind of joke?" Madelyn demanded, stepping in front of Dominic, her voice rising in pitch. "Do you know who my father is? He is Harrison Vance! He controls the development board! He can have this entire building shut down for building code violations by tomorrow morning!"
Victor didn't even look at her. He simply tapped the screen of his phone.
"Arthur," Victor said into the speaker. "Begin."
In a high-rise office building three blocks away, Arthur Sterling—the second brother, the banking titan—sat in front of a bank of high-speed trading monitors. With a single nod to his chief of operations, a sequence of automated commands was launched.
Within seconds, Dominic's phone in his pocket began to vibrate continuously.
He pulled it out, his eyes widening in horror as a flurry of urgent notifications flooded his screen.
ALERT: Harlan Nexus Business Account ending in -4402 has been frozen due to suspected fraudulent activity.
ALERT: Harlan Nexus Payroll Account ending in -9911 has been suspended.
ALERT: Line of Credit with New England Development Bank has been terminated effective immediately.
"No, no, no..." Dominic muttered, his fingers flying across the screen as he tried to access his banking app. "This is impossible. We have twenty million in operating capital! How can they freeze a federal business account without a warrant?"
"They didn't need a warrant, Dominic," Victor explained, his voice entirely calm, almost bored. "The New England Development Bank is a subsidiary of Sterling National. Your business loans were secured by personal guarantees. And those personal guarantees were backed by a quiet, anonymous trust fund that was established for you six years ago."
Dominic froze, his breath catching in his throat. "An anonymous trust..."
"A trust funded entirely by Vivienne," Victor said, taking a slow step forward, forcing Dominic to look up at him. "Do you honestly believe a mid-level software engineer from Brookline could secure a fifty-million-dollar government contract on his own? Do you think the federal security clearance board just 'happened' to overlook your lack of initial capital?"
The truth hit Dominic like a physical blow. For years, he had bragged to his associates about his incredible business acumen, about how he had single-handedly built Harlan Nexus from a tiny startup into a corporate powerhouse. He had truly believed he was a genius.
In reality, he was a puppet whose strings had been held by the very woman he had dismissed as a simple, uncultured housewife.
"She... Vivienne is a Sterling?" Dominic whispered, the realization making his knees go weak.
"Vivienne is the youngest daughter of the Sterling estate," Victor said. "She chose to live a quiet life because she wanted to believe that somewhere in this rotten world, a man could love her for who she was, not for her family's name. We warned her about you, Dominic. We told her you were a social climber. But she defended you. She made us promise to help you, to fund your dreams, to ensure you never tasted failure."
Victor leaned in, his voice dropping to a harsh, lethal whisper. "And this is how you repaid her."
"Dominic, what is he talking about?" Madelyn screamed, grabbing Dominic's arm and shaking him. "Who is Vivienne? Who is this woman?!"
Before Dominic could answer, the heavy double doors of the ballroom opened once more. This time, two uniformed officers of the Boston Police Department, accompanied by a man in a sharp grey suit holding a briefcase, entered the room.
The man in the grey suit walked directly toward Dominic, ignoring the gasps of the remaining guests.
"Mr. Harlan," the man said, pulling a stack of legal documents from his briefcase. "My name is Richard Thorne, representing the law firm of Sterling, Vance & Associates. I am here to serve you with a petition for absolute divorce on behalf of your legal wife, Vivienne Sterling Harlan."
He then turned to Madelyn, handing her an identical folder.
"And to you, Miss Vance, I am serving a civil summons for bigamy, fraud, and conspiracy to commit financial asset concealment. Your marriage to Mr. Harlan is legally null and void under Massachusetts law, as he was already married at the time of your ceremony."
May you like
Madelyn stared at the papers, her face turning a ghastly shade of grey. She slowly turned her head to look at Dominic, her eyes filled with a mixture of disbelief and pure, unadulterated fury.
"You... you were already married?" she whispered.
