Chapter 5 - The Financial Bleed
The video of the press conference went viral instantly.
Within twenty-four hours, the hashtag #BoycottVance was trending nationally. The story of the billionaire who threw away his learning-disabled child, only for her to grow up and become the mayor who stopped his corrupt real estate deal, was irresistible to the media.
The social and financial fallout was catastrophic.
Eleanor Vance was asked to resign from every charity board she sat on. When she tried to attend her exclusive country club, her membership card was confiscated at the gate by a security guard who told her she was no longer welcome on the premises.
But the real damage was corporate.
Investors hate bad press. In the span of three days, Vance Enterprises lost two of its major hedge-fund backers. The stock tanked by thirty percent.
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Then, Clara’s building inspectors delivered their reports. The inspectors found severe structural code violations on three of Vance’s ongoing projects in Oakhaven. Clara ordered an immediate halt to all construction and slapped the company with a ten-million-dollar fine for environmental hazards.
The Vance empire was bleeding out.
