Chapter 9: The Eviction
Wednesday morning. The sky over Seattle was overcast, but inside the former headquarters of Mercer Development, the atmosphere was suffocating.
Grant was sitting in his stripped-down office. The FBI had taken his computers, his files, and his dignity. He was drinking cheap vodka out of a paper cup, waiting for a call from his defense attorney that wasn't coming.
The elevator dinged. The heavy glass doors of the executive suite swung open.
Grant looked up, his blood running completely cold.
Evelyn walked in. She wasn't flanked by federal agents. She was flanked by Julian Vance and a team of corporate lawyers. She looked terrifyingly beautiful, utterly untouchable.
"What are you doing here?" Grant choked out, standing up, his hands shaking. "You don't have clearance to be in this building!"
Evelyn didn't stop until she was standing directly in front of his desk. She reached into her designer briefcase, pulled out a thick stack of legal documents bearing the seal of the primary commercial bank, and dropped them onto the glass surface.
"I don't need clearance, Grant," Evelyn said smoothly, her voice echoing in the silent office. "I own the building."
Grant stared at the papers. "What... what is this?"
"This," Julian stepped forward, his voice a lethal rumble, "is a notice of immediate foreclosure and asset seizure. Vance Coastal Dynamics acquired your corporate debt at 6:00 AM this morning. Since you are in default, we are executing our right to liquidate the assets."
"You bought my debt?" Grant gasped, falling back into his chair, the sheer, crushing reality of his total annihilation finally breaking his mind. "Evelyn, please. You took the contract. You took my freedom. Don't take the company. It's all I have left."
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"You built this company on my designs, Grant," Evelyn replied, her eyes devoid of any mercy. "I'm just repossessing stolen property. You have exactly ten minutes to clear out your desk. Security will escort you to the street."
She turned her back on him and walked out of the office, Julian falling into step perfectly beside her. They left Grant weeping in the glass box he used to rule, surrounded by the ashes of his own making.
