Chapter 6 - The Iron LadyThe corner office on the forty-second floor of the Continental Tower was bathed in cold morning sunlight. Sitting behind a sleek mahogany desk was Victoria Sterling—a woman whose name made corporate fraudsters and crooked executives in Chicago shudder.
She was fifty, dressed in a sharp charcoal blazer, with silver-streaked hair pulled back into an immaculate bun. On her wall hung trophies from some of the highest-profile asset recovery and fraud convictions in the state’s history.
Victoria leaned back, taking off her reading glasses as she finished listening to the recorded conversation on the flash drive. On the table between us lay the original 51% incorporation deed, the bank statements showing the $812,000 hidden in Evelyn’s vintage suitcase, and the forged tax filings.
"Richard Vance," Victoria said, her voice dry and laced with deep professional disgust. "A disgrace to the bar association. He’s been riding his uncle Arthur’s coattails for a decade, using his law firm as a glorified clearinghouse for illicit corporate takeovers."
"Can we stop them?" I asked, holding Lily gently in my lap as she nibbled on a plastic teething ring.
Victoria looked up, her eyes glinting like polished steel. "Stop them, Mrs. Carter? We aren't just going to stop them. We are going to dismantle them piece by piece."
She pulled out a fresh legal pad and uncapped a Montblanc pen.
"Here is what happens today," Victoria declared with methodical precision. "First, I am filing an emergency ex parte petition with the Chancery Division of the Cook County Circuit Court. Based on this original deed and the recorded admission of wire fraud, the judge will issue an immediate temporary restraining order freezing every corporate bank account associated with Carter Enterprises."
May you like
She wrote rapidly, tapping the paper with her pen. "Second, we are installing an independent forensic auditor to take control of the company’s headquarters at 10:00 AM tomorrow. And third, I am personally filing a formal disbarment complaint and criminal referral against Richard Vance for conflict of interest, fraud, and conspiracy."
She looked at me across the desk, a faint, dangerous smile playing on her lips. "Your husband thinks he owns Carter Enterprises. Tomorrow morning, he’s going to learn that he’s just an employee—and an embezzling one at that."
