Chapter 4 - Groundbreaking
Plan Zero was not a sudden burst of anger; it was a highly organized, meticulously drafted contingency plan that I had created three years ago, when Julian first tried to force me to sign over my remaining voting shares in Vance Construction. I had hoped I would never have to use it. But like any good builder, I always carried insurance.
At 7:00 AM the next morning, I sat in the conference room of Vance-Cole & Associates on the forty-second floor of a glass tower in downtown Los Angeles.
My reflection in the glass window was brutal. My left eye was completely swollen shut, a grotesque balloon of purple and black. My bottom lip was split in two places, held together by small butterfly bandages, and my jaw was tender to the touch. I wore a simple, dark grey pantsuit, my grey hair pulled back into a tight, professional bun.
Evelyn walked into the room, holding two cups of black coffee. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw my face. The coffee cups rattled in her hands.
"Dear God, Margaret," she whispered, rushing to my side. "We have to go to the hospital. This is felonious assault. He could go to prison for ten years!"
"I've already been to an urgent care clinic," I said, gently taking one of the coffee cups from her. "The ribs are bruised, not broken. The eye will heal. The face... well, I was never a beauty queen anyway."
"How can you be so calm?" Evelyn’s eyes burned with tears of fury. "He is your son! How could he do this to you?"
"Because he believed I was weak," I said softly, taking a sip of the hot coffee, ignoring the sting on my split lip. "He believed that because I am his mother, my love is a resource he can endlessly mine without consequence. He forgot that before I was his mother, I was a contractor. I know how to demolish structures that are no longer safe."
Evelyn took a deep breath, pulling out a thick, leather-bound folder and laying it on the table between us.
"We began the filings at midnight," she said, her voice turning completely professional. "Because the Beverly Hills property is owned by Vance Holdings LLC, and because you are the sole manager, we have filed an immediate, emergency eviction notice for illegal occupancy and property damage, citing the alteration of the structure without trustee approval. The sheriff's department has already processed the order. They will be served this afternoon."
"What about the accounts?" I asked.
"The secondary accounts funding Julian’s lifestyle are legally designated as 'discretionary corporate expense accounts' under Vance Construction," Evelyn explained, a small, dark smile touching her lips. "We have revoked his corporate credit cards effective 6:00 AM today due to 'unauthorized personal expenditures.' The lease agreements on his Mercedes-Benz and Chloe’s Porsche are held under the corporate fleet program. Those vehicles have been flagged for immediate repossession. The recovery team is already on their way to Beverly Hills."
I nodded slowly. "And the cash?"
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"Julian’s personal bank account is a joint account with you—an old setup from his college days that he never bothered to change because it allowed you to deposit his allowance easily," Evelyn said. "We have legally frozen the account pending an audit of 'misappropriated corporate funds.' As of right now, Julian has exactly four hundred dollars in his wallet, and Chloe’s cards are all linked to his account."
"Good," I said, leaning back in my chair. "Let's see how long their love lasts when the concrete starts to crack."
