Chapter 7: The Crumbling Empire
By Monday morning, the news had leaked to the press. The story of the prominent Wall Street titan and his brutal, calculated abuse of his wife dominated every major network and newspaper. The audio snippet, carefully redacted by the DA but described in harrowing detail by insiders, shattered Julian’s carefully cultivated public persona.
The fallout was instantaneous. Vance Holdings saw its stock plummet at the opening bell. The board of directors convened an emergency meeting, voting unanimously to oust Julian as CEO before noon.
Beatrice tried to leverage her social capital, making frantic calls to judges, politicians, and socialites she had known for decades. One by one, her calls were sent to voicemail. The high society that had once revered their wealth now treated the Vance name like a contagion. The money, the influence, the power—it was all evaporating, leaving nothing but the ugly truth they had hidden behind closed doors.
