Chapter 7 - The Eviction from the Illusion
The double doors parted completely, and I stepped into the boardroom.
I was no longer wearing the midnight-blue gown that bore the dust of Camden’s shoe print. I wore an ivory-white bespoke suit from Dior, tailored perfectly to conceal the compression wrap binding my fractured ribs. My hair was swept back into an immaculate chignon, and on my left wrist rested my grandmother’s vintage Cartier diamond watch—a timepiece worth more than Camden’s entire annual executive salary.
Two armed security officers flanked me, their expressions stone-faced.
Camden jumped to his feet, knocking his heavy leather chair backward against the floor. "Vicki! What the hell are you playing at? Call off these lawyers right now! Did you lose your mind because of what happened last night?"
I didn't blink. I didn't raise my voice. I walked to the head of the table, and Jaziel immediately rose, pulling back the master executive chair for me. I took the seat that Camden had spent three years occupying.
"Sit down, Camden," I said, my voice dropping like ice into water. "You look undignified."
"You tricked me!" he roared, pointing an accusing finger at me. "You lied to me for three years! You pretended to be a normal housewife while you secretly bought up my company behind my back?"
"I didn't buy your company behind your back, Camden," I said, resting my elbows on the table and lacing my fingers together. "There was no company to buy. You had an unworkable algorithm and eighty thousand dollars in student debt when I met you at that coffee shop in Tribeca. I gave you a dream because I loved you. I wanted to see you stand on your own two feet. I wanted to give you the confidence to become the man you claimed you wanted to be."
"Then why hide the money?" he stammered, his eyes darting toward Jasmine, who was looking at him now not with admiration, but with sheer, unadulterated disgust.
"Because my grandmother taught me one rule about men who scream about their ambition in public," I said. "A man who loves you will cherish your partnership. A man who loves himself will use your wealth as a weapon against you. So I tested you. I set up Aurelia Holdings. I let you believe you were earning the investment rounds. And what did you do the second you thought you were untouchable?"
I looked down at the documents before me.
"You embezzled four point two million dollars from corporate research accounts to buy a villa in Saint-Tropez under Jasmine Rivers’s shell company. You diverted six hundred thousand dollars in company funds to pay for private jets to take her to Aspen. And last night, you stood in front of three hundred people, kicked me in the ribs, and called me dead weight."
"Vicki, baby, listen to me—" Camden took a step toward me, his face collapsing into a grotesque mask of pleading panic. "Last night was a joke! It was an act for the investors! I had too much to drink! You know how stressful the public offering has been—"
"Do not take another step toward Mrs. Vance," Marcus Vance’s deep voice rumbled as the security chief placed a heavy hand on Camden’s shoulder, forcing him backward into his chair.
"Jaziel," I said, turning away from Camden as though he were nothing more than an unpleasant stain on the glass. "Read the forensic audit."
Jaziel pulled a red-tabbed dossier from the middle briefcase.
"Pursuant to the New York Uniform Voidable Transactions Act and Section 1104 of the Business Corporation Law, Aurelia Holdings has declared an immediate, non-curable default on all working capital notes. Effective eight o'clock this morning, all assets of Tatum Vanguard Technologies have been absorbed into Aurelia Vance Asset Management."
Jaziel looked over his gold-rimmed spectacles directly at Camden.
"Furthermore, Mrs. Vance has executed her authority as ninety-eight percent majority shareholder. The board of directors has been officially dissolved. Camden Tatum is terminated with cause from all positions of employment, executive leadership, and board oversight. Miss Jasmine Rivers is summarily dismissed from her non-existent role as Chief Executive Officer, and her security clearances have been permanently revoked."
"You can't do this!" Jasmine screamed, jumping up from her chair. "I gave up a senior vice presidency at Oracle to come here! You can't just throw me out on the street!"
I turned my head slowly to look at her. For four months, this woman had sent me smug, passive-aggressive text messages from anonymous burner numbers, leaving lipstick-stained collars in Camden’s laundry and mocking me behind my back at company mixers.
"Miss Rivers," I said smoothly. "Oracle fired you four months ago for falsifying expense reports and having an inappropriate relationship with their regional director. You didn't leave Oracle. You were escorted out by HR. Camden didn't hire you for your intellect; he hired you because your vanity matched his own."
Jasmine’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. Her face drained of all color.
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"And as for the villa in Saint-Tropez," I added, tapping the table. "The funds Camden used to purchase it were drawn directly from an Aurelia credit facility. The French Commercial Tribunal executed an asset seizure order two hours ago. The locks have already been changed."
***
