Chapter 7 - The Father's Collateral Damage
With Jason in custody, the battle shifted to the mastermind behind the family's corruption: Arthur Vance.
By 8:00 AM, the news of Jason’s arrest had leaked to the media, accompanied by a heavily circulated snippet of the staircase recording that Daniel had authorized for release. The public outrage was immediate and fierce. Shares of Vance Enterprises began to plummet, dropping 15% in the first hour of trading.
Inside his luxury penthouse office, Arthur Vance was a caged animal. He was throwing glasses against the wall as his legal team desperately tried to contain the damage.
The door to his office swung open, and Daniel walked in, flanked by two forensic accountants from his firm and Detective Ruiz.
"Get out!" Arthur roared, pointing a trembling finger at Daniel. "You've ruined my son! You've ruined my company! I will make sure you rot in a cell for the rest of your miserable life!"
"Actually, Arthur, you did this to yourself," Daniel said, tossing a thick manila folder onto Arthur's mahogany desk. "When you threatened to frame me for tax fraud, I decided to have my team look into Vance Enterprises' financial records. Since my firm did the structural audits for your properties over the last five years, we had access to your corporate accounts."
Arthur’s eyes narrowed. "You have nothing. My accounts are audited by the top firms in the country."
"They were, until we found the double-ledger system you used to fund Jason’s offshore accounts in Switzerland," Daniel explained calmly. "You weren't just protecting him from his sister; you were using his 'trust fund' to launder millions in unpaid corporate taxes and bribes paid to city officials—including Dr. Charles Sterling at the hospital."
Detective Ruiz stepped forward, holding a stack of federal warrants. "Arthur Vance, we have a warrant for your arrest for corporate tax evasion, money laundering, and bribery of a medical official. Your assets have been frozen by the federal government as of ten minutes ago."
Arthur staggered backward, his face turning an ash-gray color. The empire he had spent forty years building, the wealth he had used to crush anyone who stood in his way, was vanishing in a matter of seconds.
"This is my daughter's doing," Arthur whispered, his voice cracking with pure, unadulterated hatred. "She betrayed her own blood."
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"No," Daniel corrected him, his voice firm and proud. "She survived you. And now, she is free of you."
As the officers led a handcuffed Arthur Vance out of his own skyscraper, the employees watched in stunned silence. The reign of the Vance family was officially over.
