Chapter 6 - The Freezing of Assets
By forty-eight hours after the party, Julian’s fall from grace was absolute.
The news of the scandal hit the Wall Street Journal and the Boston Globe. Headlines blared across business outlets: Aurelia Systems Saved by Heiress; CSO Suspended Amid Multimillion-Dollar Fraud Investigation.
Julian was completely blacklisted from the tech industry. No firm would touch him, no board would consult him, and his former executive friends suddenly stopped answering his calls.
On Thursday afternoon, I sat in the high-rise office of Vance Capital overlooking Boston Harbor. My divorce attorney, Marcus Vance—my cousin and chief legal officer—handed me a stack of affidavits.
“Julian tried to file an emergency motion with the family court this morning,” Marcus said, chuckling softly as he adjusted his glasses. “He asked the judge to unfreeze his personal accounts and grant him temporary spousal support of fifty thousand dollars a month.”
I raised an eyebrow. “And how did Judge Sterling react?”
“Judge Sterling read the forensic audit report, looked at the wire transfer receipts to Apex Global, and laughed him out of the courtroom,” Marcus replied. “He denied the motion in its entirety and issued a temporary restraining order preventing Julian from coming within five hundred feet of you or any Vance Capital property.”
“Where is he staying?” I asked.
“A thirty-dollar-a-night motel near the airport,” Marcus said, showing me a private investigator’s photo on his tablet.
The photo showed Julian sitting on the edge of a stained mattress in a dark, dingy room, holding a paper cup of cheap coffee. The sharp, polished executive who had struck my shoulder four nights ago looked twenty years older, his clothes crumpled, his hair greasy, his posture defeated.
“And Camilla?” I asked.
“Her father refused to pay her bail,” Marcus explained. “Arthur Price realized the federal investigation into Apex Global was heading straight for Vanguard Dynamics. He’s trying to cut his losses and throw Camilla and Julian to the wolves to save his own skin.”
I shook my head slowly. “A family of vipers.”
“What’s our next move?” Marcus asked.
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“We crush Vanguard Dynamics,” I said flatly. “Arthur Price thought he could use my husband to bleed my company dry. Now I’m going to buy Vanguard’s debt and force a hostile restructuring.”
Marcus smiled—a predatory, sharp smile that ran in our family. “I’ll have the acquisition team ready by five.”
