Chapter 6 - The Fall of DominationThe destruction of Nathan Vance’s empire was absolute, swift, and merciless.
Within forty-eight hours of the press conference:
The Board of Vance Capital unanimously voted to remove Nathan from his position as CEO, citing extreme reputational damage and active financial fraud investigations.
The District Attorney’s Office issued formal indictments against Nathan Vance for bank fraud, signature forgery, and attempted grand larceny.
Sloane Vale, facing total bankruptcy and legal prosecution, turned state’s evidence against Nathan, providing prosecutors with months of text messages detailing how Nathan had planned to manipulate my pregnancy to seize control of my family’s fortune.
On a cold Tuesday morning, three weeks before my due date, Nathan sat across from me in a private conference room at the Manhattan District Courthouse.
He was dressed in a plain, oversized suit—a far cry from his custom-tailored Italian attire. He looked hollow, aged ten years in a matter of days. His high-priced defense lawyers sat beside him, looking thoroughly defeated.
Margaret Crane laid the final settlement papers on the table.
"In exchange for Evelyn dropping civil punitive damages," Margaret stated coldly, "you will sign a complete surrender of all marital property claims, execute an immediate uncontested divorce decree, and permanently forfeit all parental rights and visitation claims regarding the child."
Nathan’s hand trembled as he looked at the papers. He raised his bloodshot eyes to look at me.
"You're taking my daughter away from me, Evie?" he whispered, attempting to squeeze out a drop of remorse. "She's my blood too."
"You didn't want a daughter, Nathan," I replied, my voice dropping into a register of pure, unyielding steel. "You wanted a asset named Celeste that you could use to secure trust distributions. You never loved her. You never loved me."
"I made a mistake!" Nathan pleaded, leaning across the table. "Sloane manipulated me! She got into my head! Evie, please... we built four years together! Think about our history!"
"Our history was a lie built on my grandmother’s money," I said, picking up a gold pen and handing it to him. "Sign the papers, Nathan. Or Margaret hands the federal prosecutors the secondary audit regarding your offshore tax evasion accounts."
Nathan stared at the pen. He realized he had no moves left. No allies. No money. No escape.
With a shaking hand, he signed his name on every marked line, relinquishing every claim to my life, my money, and my child.
When he finished, I stood up, gathered my coat, and walked out of the room without looking back at him once.
As the heavy wooden doors closed behind me, I felt a sharp, rhythmic contraction across my abdomen.
May you like
I stopped in the hallway, taking a deep, steady breath, placing my hand over my belly.
"Not yet, little one," I whispered with a warm smile. "Let's get home first."
