Chapter 5 - The Fall of the House of Laurent
The morning after the gala, the financial markets opened to a bloodbath for Laurent Enterprises.
Within two hours of Adrian Falkner’s legal team dispatching the dissolution papers to their corporate headquarters, three major municipal real estate bids backed by the Laurent family were mysteriously outbid by anonymous shell corporations tied directly to the Falkner Foundation.
Eleanor Laurent sat in her penthouse office on Park Avenue, screaming down a multi-line telephone at her chief financial officer, only to be told that their primary commercial lenders had suddenly recalled their lines of credit.
“How is that possible?!” Eleanor shrieked, her face white with panic. “Falkner Maritime doesn't have controlling interest in our commercial trust!”
“They do now, Mrs. Laurent,” the CFO’s voice trembled over the speaker. “An hour ago, a block of voting shares worth forty million dollars was quietly acquired and consolidated under a trust named The Blackwood Holdings. We’re locked out.”
Blackwood.
The name hit Eleanor like a physical blow. The Blackwood River. The site of the accident twenty-one years ago. Adrian hadn't just broken an engagement; he had systematically, ruthlessly begun dismantling their entire dynasty with the cold precision of an engineer taking apart a broken machine.
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Downstairs, Vivienne’s social media accounts were already being systematically scrubbed by internet sleuths who had caught wind of the scandalous engagement cancellation. Within forty-eight hours, every high-society gala invitation, luxury brand endorsement, and board seat Vivienne held vanished into thin air.
The girl in the torn maid’s uniform hadn't just beaten them; she hadn't even had to lift a finger. The empire had torn itself apart trying to keep her out.
