Chapter 13 - The Total Collapse of Arthur's Empire
The dominoes fell with brutal, unstoppable velocity over the following two weeks.
Word of Arthur’s felony burglary charges, the fraudulent development scheme, and the crushing $340,000 civil judgment spread through the Columbus business community like wildfire.
On Monday morning, Arthur’s commercial partners at Apex Horizons LLC voted unanimously to terminate his managing partnership and initiated a secondary corporate lawsuit to recover the funds he had stolen from their operational accounts.
By Wednesday, the board of the Lakeside Country Club held an emergency disciplinary hearing, formally stripping Arthur and Wendy of their social membership for conduct unbecoming of the club.
On Sunday at 5:00 PM, Eleanor and I stood in the driveway of the Dublin suburban home as a moving truck hauled away Arthur and Wendy’s rented furniture. Wendy was forced to pack her designer clothes into cardboard boxes, sobbing uncontrollably as neighbors watched from their manicured lawns.
Arthur had been forced to surrender the keys to his luxury company car. He stood on the sidewalk beside a battered rental sedan, his tailored suit rumpled, looking twenty years older.
Liam arrived in his BMW—only to find two repo agents waiting at the curb with a flatbed tow truck. Because Eleanor had terminated the trust payments, the auto lender had initiated an immediate repossession for two months of delinquent payments.
“You can’t take my car!” Liam screamed at the repo driver. “I go to Ohio State! How am I supposed to get to campus?”
“Take the public bus, kid,” the driver grunted, winching the luxury sedan onto the steel bed and driving away.
Liam stood on the sidewalk next to his parents, holding a duffle bag of clothes, completely stripped of his unearned luxury. He had to withdraw from his expensive fraternity, move into a cramped off-campus studio apartment with two roommates, and take a night job waiting tables at a local diner to pay his remaining tuition.
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Arthur and Wendy were forced to move into a tiny, two-bedroom rented apartment on the outskirts of Dayton. With Arthur’s credit score completely destroyed and felony charges hanging over his head, no bank would lend him a single dime. Every dollar he made from consulting was automatically garnished by the court to pay his restitution to Eleanor.
They had attempted to steal an estate worth millions; instead, they ended up with nothing but debts, public disgrace, and a lifetime of bitter regret.
