Chapter 5: The Fall of the Pretenders
Within three hours of the gala, the video of the private jet incident had broken the internet.
On Facebook, the clip gathered over fifty million views before midnight, accompanied by trending hashtags like #JusticeForSimone and #TheBillionaireBrother. The public outrage was ferocious. Rivers Industries' stock price began a terrifying vertical drop in after-hours trading, forcing an emergency session of the board of directors at 2:00 AM.
The meeting took place in the glass-walled boardroom on the eighty-fourth floor. Derek sat at the far end of the long mahogany table, his tie undone, his hair disheveled. He looked twenty years older. Tiffany was nowhere to be found; she was currently sitting in a holding cell at the Cook County central detention facility, her high-priced lawyers scrambling to post a bail that Cameron’s legal team was aggressively challenging.
"The numbers are catastrophic, Cameron," the Chief Financial Officer said, projecting a red line graph that looked like a cliff face. "We’ve lost four hundred million in market cap in four hours. Major institutional investors from New York are threatening to pull out of the global expansion if Derek remains associated with the brand."
"He is no longer associated with the brand," Cameron said calmly from the head of the table. He slid a single piece of paper down the length of the wood. It stopped directly in front of his younger brother.
"What is this?" Derek whispered, his voice hollow.
"Your termination agreement," Cameron said. "As Chairman and majority shareholder, I am exercising the morality clause in your executive contract. You are stripped of your title as Executive Vice President effective immediately. Your corporate shares, which were leveraged against the company’s performance, are being frozen pending the outcome of Simone’s asset division."
"You can't do this to me!" Derek screamed, slamming his hands on the table as he finally snapped. "I am your brother, Cameron! We built this together! You’re ruining my life over a stupid domestic dispute!"
"You ruined your own life the second you forgot how our mother raised us," Cameron said, his voice rising for the first time, a dark, rumbling thunder that silenced Derek instantly. "Our father walked out on us, Derek. He left Mom to work double shifts until her hands bled. You sat in our kitchen at twelve years old and swore to me you would never be like him. But look at you. You’re worse. He left; you stayed and watched another woman torture the mother of your child."
Cameron stood up, leaning over the table, his presence entirely eclipsing his brother. "You are stripped of the Rivers name, Derek. From this day forward, you are a stranger to me. Security will escort you from the building. You have ten minutes to clear your desk before the locks are changed."
While Derek was being escorted out of the building in tears under the watchful eyes of security, Gabrielle Thompson was executing the second phase of the scorched-earth strategy.
By 8:00 AM the next morning, a fleet of moving trucks pulled up to the multi-million dollar Gold Coast mansion that Derek and Simone had shared. Supported by a court-ordered writ of attachment, Gabrielle and a team of forensic accountants walked through the front doors.
Tiffany Blake, who had been released on bail just an hour prior, was inside the house, frantically trying to pack expensive designer handbags and jewelry into a Louis Vuitton suitcase.
"What are you doing?!" Tiffany shrieked as Gabrielle walked into the master bedroom with two security guards. "Get out of my house!"
"It’s not your house, Ms. Blake. And it’s no longer Derek’s," Gabrielle said calmly, holding up a certified court order. "All marital assets have been frozen by the family court. Every handbag, every piece of jewelry, every painting purchased during the duration of the marriage is subject to asset division. Leave the suitcase."
"This necklace is mine! Derek bought it for me!" Tiffany screamed, clutching the diamond snake necklace around her throat.
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"Purchased with a corporate credit card tied to a company that has just fired him, and paid for with funds that constitute marital property," Gabrielle countered, her voice ice-cold. "Take it off, Ms. Blake. Or the guards will assist you, and we will add a violation of a court order to your pending criminal battery charge."
Tiffany looked at the guards, then at Gabrielle’s unyielding face. With a sob of pure rage and humiliation, she unclasped the necklace and flung it onto the bed. She grabbed her cheap plastic release bag from the police station and fled the mansion, her bare feet slipping on the snow outside as the paparazzi captured her ignominious exit.
