Chapter 3 - THE FREEZE ORDER
At 8:00 AM the following morning, the sun rose over the glass towers of Manhattan’s financial district. Inside the executive conference room of First Imperial Bank, Eleanor Vance sat clutching a paper cup of lukewarm tea, her hands trembling uncontrollably.
Beside her sat Tyler, dressed in a rumpled suit, his dark circles deep enough to resemble bruises.
Across the long glass table stood Arthur Vance’s chief defense attorney, Julian Sterling, pacing back and forth with his phone pressed to his ear.
“What do you mean the bond was rejected?!” Sterling shouted into the receiver. “Mr. Vance is a prominent civic developer! His bail was set at five hundred thousand dollars—we wire-transferred the funds three hours ago!”
Sterling went silent, listening to the voice on the line. As he listened, his face slowly turned an ash-gray color. He slowly lowered the phone, his hand dropping to his side.
“Julian?” Eleanor whimpered, her voice cracking. “What’s happening? Why haven't they released Arthur and Madison?”
“The State Attorney General’s office just issued an emergency asset freezing order,” Sterling said, his voice hollow. “Every account tied to Vance Development, every personal checking account, every credit line, and the deed to the ridge estate have been placed under a federal court injunction.”
“What?!” Tyler jumped out of his chair, knocking his cup over, spilling tea across the mahogany table. “They can’t freeze my personal accounts! I didn't choke anyone!”
“They didn't freeze it because of the assault, Tyler,” Sterling said, turning his cold gaze onto the young man. “They froze it because your sister Rebecca handed the state prosecutor four hundred gigabytes of encrypted bank ledgers proving grand larceny, tax evasion, and federal wire fraud.”
Eleanor sank back into her leather chair, gasping for air as if she had been hit in the chest. “Rebecca... Rebecca did this?”
“Rebecca built this trap,” Sterling corrected sharply, snapping his briefcase shut. “She didn't just report a crime; she provided a rock-solid, mathematically ironclad paper trail certified by the Department of Justice. The bank has already seized the estate’s collateral. By five o'clock today, federal marshals will place a seizure pad on the front gates.”
“No...” Eleanor sobbed, burying her face in her hands. “No, she wouldn't do this to her own family! She’s my daughter!”
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“She was your daughter when you watched her father choke her on your foyer floor, Mrs. Vance,” Sterling said coldly, pulling his coat on. “My retainer check just bounced. As of right now, I am officially withdrawing as counsel for your family. Good luck.”
Sterling walked out of the conference room, the heavy glass doors swinging shut behind him, leaving Eleanor and Tyler stranded in the cold sky-rise high above the city, completely penniless.
