Chapter 10 - THE FALL FROM GRACE
The scene was absolute pandemonium. Cameras flashed frantically, capturing every humiliating second of Evelyn Sterling being handcuffed in her designer gown. She fought, kicking and screaming obscenities that made the old-money matriarchs in the front row clutch their pearls in horror.
Richard didn’t fight. He stood perfectly still as the agents cuffed him, staring blankly at the floor. He knew his life was over. The federal agents marched them both out through the grand foyer, their reputations incinerated in front of the most influential people in America.
From the back of the room, Clara Whitmore watched, flanked by two of Nathaniel’s private security guards. Tears of relief streamed down her face. Nathaniel met her eyes across the chaotic ballroom and gave her a slow, respectful nod.
The fallout was catastrophic for Evelyn and Richard, but brilliantly managed by Nathaniel. By Monday morning, the business world awoke to the scandal of the decade. But instead of Nathaniel looking like a victim, he emerged as a strategic genius. The financial news networks praised his ruthlessness in rooting out corruption within his own ranks. Stock in Cross Urban Development skyrocketed.
During the trials six months later, Evelyn attempted to play the victim, crying on the stand and claiming Richard had brainwashed her. The prosecution simply replayed the laundry room video. The jury deliberated for less than two hours. Both Evelyn and Richard were sentenced to twenty years in federal prison, without the possibility of early parole.
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Nathaniel sold the estate in Greenwich. He didn't want the memories, and he certainly didn't want the laundry room. He moved his primary residence back to a massive penthouse in Chicago, closer to the heartbeat of his empire.
He was a little colder, a little harder, but he was entirely free.
