Chapter 12 - Vanessa’s Counter-Move
While the legal noose tightened around Ethan and her cousin Marcus, Vanessa Vance was fighting a desperate battle of her own to salvage whatever remained of her social standing in New York’s high-society circles.
Abandoned by her elite friends, locked out of the exclusive clubs where she had spent years curating her image as an elite lifestyle influencer, Vanessa made a frantic, unannounced appearance at the lobby of Bennett Event Systems headquarters late Tuesday afternoon.
Security intercom buzzed Claire’s desk. 'Ms. Vance is in the lobby, Ms. Bennett. She’s demanding a private audience, claiming she has crucial information regarding Ethan’s secondary asset hiding schemes.'
Claire looked at her watch. She had a board meeting in ten minutes, but curiosity—and a strategic desire to close every possible loophole—prompted her decision. 'Send her up to Conference Room B. Give her ten minutes.'
When Claire walked into Conference Room B, Vanessa looked a shadow of her former self. Gone was the pristine radiance of the Hudson Valley wedding; her hair was pulled back into a messy bun, her designer jacket rumpled, and her eyes red-rimmed from sleepless nights of panic.
'Claire,' Vanessa said, standing up hastily from her chair. 'Thank you for seeing me. I know you have every reason to throw me out.'
'You have ten minutes, Vanessa,' Claire said, remaining standing near the door, arms folded across her chest. 'Make them count.'
'I didn't know about Marcus,' Vanessa blurted out, her voice trembling. 'I swear to God, I didn't know my cousin was involved in Ethan’s hacking scheme until the FBI raided our family group chat this morning. Ethan used him. Ethan manipulated all of us.'
May you like
'That defense might work in a bad television drama, Vanessa, but it holds zero weight in a federal courtroom,' Claire replied evenly. 'If you came here to ask me to drop the civil recovery claims against the gifts and assets purchased with my stolen funds, you are wasting your time.'
'I didn't come to ask for favors,' Vanessa said, reaching into her leather handbag and sliding a thick manila envelope across the table. 'I came to offer leverage. Ethan didn't just steal from your company accounts to pay for a wedding. For the last six months, he’s been covertly copying proprietary enterprise logistics software source code to sell to your primary competitor, Apex Systems.'
