Chapter 4 - The Avalanche
The fall of Dominic Vale was not a quiet affair. When Alistair Aurelia decided to protect his family, he didn't just use a shield—he used a sledgehammer.
By the next morning, the financial press had picked up the story. The loss of the Aurelia Group contracts caused Vale Medical Logistics' stock to plummet eighty percent in pre-market trading. Investors panicked, demanding immediate audits, which quickly revealed the frantic, illegal transfers Dominic had made while I was in surgery.
By Tuesday afternoon, Dominic’s luxury apartment—the one he boasted was in his name alone—was locked down by the bank due to a cross-collateralization clause on his business loans. He and Natalie were forced to move into a cheap, extended-stay motel on the outskirts of the city, their designer lifestyles turning to dust in less than forty-eight hours.
But the final blow came in the form of a public social media post.
Dominic had tried to post a statement on his company’s official page, claiming that the restructuring was a temporary hurdle and that he was being targeted by an "unstable ex-wife."
I didn't reply with words. I allowed Marcus Vance to upload the security footage from the NICU suite.
The video showed Dominic tossing the divorce papers onto my lap while I sat beside my premature twins’ incubators. It showed Natalie standing proudly in my custom maternity coat, smiling as Dominic told me I was on my own. The caption underneath was written by my grandfather's public relations team:
May you like
"This is Dominic Vale, former CEO of Vale Logistics, treating a mother of premature infants with calculated cruelty. The Aurelia family does not tolerate predators. Justice is being served."
The video went viral within an hour. It was shared millions of times. Outraged citizens tagged the district attorney's office, demanding immediate prosecution for child endangerment and financial fraud. Dominic's name became a global synonym for absolute scum. He couldn't walk into a coffee shop without being recognized and thrown out by the management.
