Chapter 6 - The Unraveling
Early the next morning, inside the grand mansion where the argument began the previous night, Liam's mother, Mrs. Thorne, sat by the pool.
She had not yet heard from Liam. She picked up the newspaper, expecting to see the society photos from the charity gala.
Instead, the front page of The Wall Street Journal displayed a headline that made her gasp: “Vance-Sterling Alliance: SEC Probes Thorne Enterprises Over Multi-State Financial Irregularities.”
The entire portfolio of Thorne stock was in freefall on the pre-market trading boards, down forty percent.
Her cell phone finally rang. It was Liam, but he sounded breathless, like a man drowning in deep water.
"Mom! The feds have everything. They seized the servers. The Sterling accounts are frozen, and they’ve filed for immediate dissolution of our marriage contract!" Liam screamed.
Mrs. Thorne stood up, the marble patio beneath her feet feeling like it was tilting into the abyss.
"You slapped Mariana Sterling, didn't you?" she whispered, the realization of the sheer magnitude of his stupidity hitting her.
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Her son’s silence spoke volumes. She walked to the edge of the sprawling pool and stared at the beautiful, pristine blue water.
Her life of luxury had just been torpedoed by a five-second outburst of domestic violence.
