Chapter 6 - The Visitation Room
The Fulton County Jail was a stark, depressing contrast to the luxurious penthouses Marcus Vance was accustomed to. He sat at a cold metal table in the sterile, windowless visitation room, wearing a standard-issue orange jumpsuit that swallowed his expensive, tailored pride. He looked exhausted, his hair unkempt, and the arrogant sneer that usually dominated his face had been replaced by a desperate, twitching anxiety.
The heavy steel door buzzed open, and Eleanor Vance walked into the room. She was impeccably dressed in a dark, tailored Chanel suit, her posture flawless, her expression utterly devoid of sympathy. She looked completely out of place in the grim prison environment, yet she commanded the room instantly.
"Mother," Marcus gasped, standing up quickly, his handcuffs rattling against the metal table. "Thank god. You need to get me out of here. The lawyers they assigned to me are useless. They are talking about a plea deal! You need to leverage the judge, bribe the DA, do whatever it takes!"
Eleanor walked slowly to the table, her high heels clicking sharply against the concrete floor. She didn't sit down. She simply stared at him with a look of profound, chilling disappointment. Before Marcus could speak another word, Eleanor raised her hand and delivered a vicious, stinging slap across his face. The crack echoed loudly in the small room.
"You absolute, pathetic fool," Eleanor hissed, her voice a low, terrifying whisper. "You let a housewife systematically dismantle a billion-dollar empire because you couldn't control your temper. You left a trail of forensic evidence, illegal wiretaps, and offshore ledgers a mile wide. You didn't just embarrass yourself, Marcus. You humiliated me."
Marcus touched his stinging cheek, looking at his mother in absolute shock. "I can fix this! Just get me bail!"
"There is no bail," Eleanor said coldly, finally taking a seat across from him. "The federal banking committee has frozen all of your personal assets. Your board of directors is drafting a resolution to permanently oust you as CEO by morning. You are a sinking ship, Marcus, and I will not let you drag the Vance family name down into the abyss with you."
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"What are you saying?" he stammered, panic rising in his throat.
"I am cutting you loose," Eleanor stated flatly. "I will redirect all legal funding to myself. I am going to petition the court for emergency grandparent rights to take custody of Maya. I will destroy Elena myself, not to save you, but to save my granddaughter and my legacy. You will sit in this cell and accept the consequences of your own profound stupidity."
