Chapter 6 - The Morning After The Fall
The morning sun rose over New York Harbor, casting a brilliant golden light across the Manhattan skyline and our fifty-floor penthouse.
I stood by the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, sipping hot black coffee while watching the morning news broadcast on the giant wall-mounted screen.
Every major financial network was leading with the exact same breaking news headline across their bright red broadcast banners.
“Sterling Capital Collapses: Wall Street Hedge Fund Manager Arrested In Massive Federal Fraud And Money Laundering Probe.”
Footage of Ryan being led out of his Greenwich mansion in handcuffs by federal marshals played on an endless loop across the screen.
His mother, Eleanor, was shown hiding her face behind a cardboard box while flashbulbs blinded her from the aggressive paparazzi photographers.
The commentators were discussing how an unknown federal agency had seized fifty million dollars in institutional funds overnight without warning.
None of the news anchors knew that the federal agency acted on instructions directly issued from my father’s private Manhattan encrypted terminal.
My phone on the marble kitchen island began to buzz incessantly with missed calls, text messages, and voicemails from Ryan’s terrified friends.
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People who hadn't even bothered to look at me during my birthday party were now begging for my forgiveness and corporate connections.
I walked over, picked up the phone, and clicked the power button to switch it off completely, letting the screen go permanently dark.
