Chapter 4: The House of Cards Collapses
Three weeks later.
Julian and his mother Eleanor sat in the dilapidated living room of their mansion. The air conditioning had been shut off because they could no longer afford the utility bill. The past twenty-one days had been a living nightmare.
True to Arthur Vance’s word, the Miller family business had collapsed overnight. Every investor pulled out within hours. Every bank called in their loans simultaneously. The stock plummeted to zero, and the company filed for liquidation. Their luxury cars were repossessed, their credit cards declined, and an eviction notice was currently taped to their front door.
"This is all your fault!" Eleanor screamed at Julian, throwing a cheap plastic cup at his head. "You couldn't control your temper! You had a golden goose—the daughter of Arthur Vance—and you tried to beat her!"
"How was I supposed to know?!" Julian yelled back, his hair messy, his clothes stained with sweat. "She didn't know either! She lost her memory!"
Suddenly, the front door was kicked open. A team of federal agents, accompanied by Arthur Vance’s personal attorney, walked in.
"Julian Miller, Eleanor Miller," the lead agent announced, flashing his badge. "You are under arrest for corporate fraud, tax evasion, and conspiracy to commit illegal custody coercion based on evidence recovered from your personal devices."
Julian dropped to his knees, weeping. "Please... let me talk to Evelyn. She’s my wife! She’s kind-hearted, she will forgive me! Let me see my daughter!"
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The attorney stepped forward, looking down at Julian with utter contempt. "Mrs. Evelyn Vance-Miller no longer exists. She has legally reclaimed her maiden name. As for your daughter, you will never see her again. You are going to prison for a very, very long time."
As the handcuffs clicked around Julian’s wrists, he finally realized the gravity of what he had destroyed. His greed, cruelty, and arrogance had not only cost him his wealth—it had doomed him to a lifetime behind bars, far away from the light of the family he had so brutally abused.
