Chapter 7 - Selina's Golden Boy Loses His Crown
The news of Rowan Carter’s public arrest and disgraceful firing swept through Manhattan’s elite architectural and financial circles like a Category 5 hurricane. By 5:00 p.m., The Real Deal and Bloomberg Business had already published exclusive articles detailing the collapse of Miller & Hayes’s corrupt junior partner and the heroic intervention of forensic auditor Phoebe Sterling.
In her luxurious Tribeca penthouse, Selina Carter was pacing the living room floor like a caged predator. Her hair was disheveled, her makeup smeared with nervous sweat.
The flat-screen television on the wall was tuned to Bloomberg TV, where a prominent financial anchor was speaking into the camera:
"...in a shocking turn of events today, architectural project manager Rowan Carter was escorted out of Midtown Manhattan offices in handcuffs following a forensic audit personally directed by billionaire heiress Phoebe Sterling Vance. Federal authorities have reportedly frozen all assets associated with Carter’s Delaware entity, RC Innovations..."
"Turn it off! Turn it off!" Selina shrieked, hurling her crystal remote control directly at the screen. The glass shattered, and the television went black.
At that moment, the front door opened, and Chloe stumbled into the apartment, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Mom! It’s over! It’s all over!" Chloe wailed, dropping her designer handbag onto the marble floor. "Two IRS agents and three NYPD officers showed up at the boutique! They padlocked the front doors! They seized all the inventory, the computers, and the safe! They said I’m being named as a co-conspirator in a money-laundering scheme!"
"Shut up, Chloe! Pull yourself together!" Selina snapped, grabbing her daughter by the shoulders and shaking her violently. "We have high-powered lawyers! Rowan’s bail hearing is tomorrow morning! We will post bail, we will hire a top defense firm, and we will countersue that vicious Sterling girl for defamation!"
"With what money, Mom?!" Chloe screamed back, tears ruining her heavy mascara. "I tried to use my black Amex card to buy a bottle of water at the deli, and it was declined! The boutique bank accounts have a zero balance! The bank told me there is a federal freeze on every account tied to Rowan’s Social Security number!"
Before Selina could formulate another frantic sentence, a loud, authoritative knock rattled the heavy front door of the penthouse.
Selina’s eyes widened with manic hope. "That’s Rowan! He must have posted emergency bail with his private broker!"
She rushed to the double doors, throwing them wide open.
Standing on the carpeted landing was not Rowan.
It was a sharp-looking man in a dark suit holding a thick clipboard, flanked by two armed building security guards and a representative from the Manhattan Sheriff’s Office.
"Mrs. Selina Carter?" the man asked in a dry, bureaucratic monotone.
"Yes! Who are you, and what are you doing outside my private residence?" Selina demanded, puffing out her chest.
"I am Thomas Wright, representing the First Manhattan Real Estate Trust," the man replied, handing her a brightly colored legal notice stamped with a red wax seal. "I am here to serve you with an immediate thirty-day notice of foreclosure and emergency eviction."
Selina felt the room spin violently around her. "Eviction?! Are you insane?! I own this penthouse! My son pays the mortgage every single month!"
"Actually, Mrs. Carter," Thomas Wright said, adjusting his glasses. "The primary deed on this penthouse was used as collateral against a three-million-dollar mezzanine loan issued by First National Bank. That loan went into default forty-eight hours ago. The debt note was purchased in full yesterday morning by Sterling Global Real Estate Holdings."
Thomas stepped aside, allowing two movers wearing blue jumpsuits to place large yellow caution cones across the private elevator foyer.
"Sterling Global has exercised their right of accelerated foreclosure due to fraudulent financial disclosures on the original mortgage application. You have seventy-two hours to remove your personal clothing and small effects. All luxury furnishings, artwork, and fixtures purchased with embezzled funds are subject to immediate federal seizure."
"No! No! You can't do this to me!" Selina screamed, lunging toward the man with her manicured nails outstretched. "I am Selina Carter! I am a woman of status! You cannot throw me onto the street like a common beggar!"
One of the armed security guards stepped forward, his hand resting firmly on his holster. "Ma'am, step back inside the unit immediately. If you touch Mr. Wright, you will spend the night in Central Booking alongside your son."
May you like
Chloe collapsed against the wall, hyperventilating into her hands.
Selina stood frozen on the threshold of her multi-million-dollar empire, watching her entire life of manufactured prestige, stolen luxury, and hollow vanity crumble into absolute, humiliating ruin.
