Chapter 8 - desperate moves
By three o'clock that afternoon, Victoria Crane’s luxurious penthouse apartment in Soho felt less like a palace and more like a gilded cage.
Her private accounts were locked. Her credit cards were declined at every luxury boutique on Fifth Avenue. The private security team she had employed for three years had vanished overnight after their retainer checks bounced.
"This is illegal!" Victoria screamed into her cell phone, standing in her expansive marble kitchen. "Do you hear me? I am a Crane! My grandfather built the steel mills in Pennsylvania!"
"Mrs. Crane," the calm voice of her family attorney replied over the line. "Your grandfather built those mills with a four-million-dollar loan in 1968. The lender of record was a private holding firm named Romano & Sons. The terms of that contract state that in the event of disrespect or breach of loyalty against the principal lender, all real estate, stock, and corporate equity revert instantly to the grantor."
Victoria’s breath caught in her throat. "That contract was signed sixty years ago! It's obsolete!"
"It was re-ratified by your husband three years ago when he accepted the directorship of the board," the attorney said flatly. "I advise you to stop making calls, Mrs. Crane. You are only making this worse."
The call went dead.
Victoria dropped the phone onto the island counter. She looked up to see Damian walking into the kitchen. He looked hollow, his eyes bloodshot, his tailored suit jacket gone, his tie loosened around his collar.
"We have to go see him," Damian said quietly.
Victoria stared at him in disbelief. "Go see him? Go beg that old man for mercy? After what he did to me? After he laid hands on me in front of everyone?"
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Damian slammed his fist against the marble counter, shattering a crystal vase nearby. "Look around you, Victoria! We don't have a car! We don't have security! We don't have money! Every door in this city just closed in our faces! If we don't go bow to him now, we won't even have this roof over our heads by sunset!"
Victoria flinched, her eyes wide with shock. For the first time in their marriage, she saw total defeat in her husband's eyes.
