Chapter 2 - The Audit of the EmpireWhile I stood in my rumpled designer suit on the rain-slicked driveway of my former estate, watching federal agents place yellow police seals across the high iron gates, Sienna Vale’s world in Miami was detonating into total, public ruin.
At 9:00 AM that morning, inside the eleven-point-eight-million-dollar waterfront penthouse overlooking Biscayne Bay, Sienna sat in a silk robe, sipping expensive espresso, admiring the sparkling turquoise waters from her balcony.
She had spent the morning browsing luxury Italian furniture catalogs, completely oblivious to the fact that the ground beneath her feet had already turned to dust.
BOOM!
The heavy mahogany front door of the penthouse was kicked open with a thunderous bang.
Stepping into the living room were four uniformed Federal Marshals and two representatives from Vance & Associates.
Sienna jumped up from the sofa, dropping her coffee cup onto the marble floorboards, where it shattered into fragments. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?! DO YOU KNOW WHO OWNS THIS PENTHOUSE?! ADRIAN KNOX BOUGHT THIS FOR ME YESTERDAY!"
The lead representative stepped forward, pulling a master eviction decree from his leather briefcase.
"Adrian Knox attempted to purchase this property using corporate line-of-credit accounts owned by Knox Dynamics, Miss Vale," the representative explained coldly. "Because those funds were transferred illegally while Mr. Knox was under corporate suspension, the sale was officially invalidated two hours ago."
Sienna’s face turned an ugly, paper-white shade of green. "INVALIDATED?! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! ADRIAN SIGNED THE PAPERS!"
"And at eight o'clock this morning," the representative added, "the primary deed for this penthouse was purchased outright at judicial auction by The Claire Sterling Knox Irrevocable Trust."
Sienna gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. "Claire...?! No... no! That's impossible!"
"You have fifteen minutes to collect your personal belongings, Miss Vale," the lead marshal commanded flatly, pulling a pair of heavy steel handcuffs from his belt. "And because the eleven point eight million dollars transferred yesterday constituted corporate embezzlement, you are being named as a primary co-conspirator in a federal wire fraud investigation."
CLICK. CLICK.
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The steel cuffs locked tightly around Sienna’s wrists behind her back as she shrieked hysterically, her silk robe rustling violently as she thrashed against the marshals, being dragged out of the luxury penthouse in total, public disgrace.
Every gift, every account, every apartment, and every dollar I had given her was systematically reclaimed by Claire’s legal machine within twelve hours.
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