Chapter 53: Taking the Fall

The flashing red and blue strobes of the federal convoy reflected against the rain-slicked asphalt, slwly winding down the driveway until they vanished behind the gates...

"Eleanor."

Harper stepped forward as she addressed Gregory Vance’s wife.

Harper’s eyes dropped to Eleanor’s swelling abdomen, a pang of sympathy tightening her chest.

Eleanor Vance possessed an elegant sort of beauty, but beneath that soft exterior was a spine of steel.

Despite just watching her husband being handcuffed and escorted into an armored SUV by the FBI, she hadn’t shed a single tear in front of the federal agents...

Her gaze had remained fixed on Gregory’s departing vehicle.

She turned to Harper and the older man standing beside her, managing a faint smile. "You both came."

The storm was picking up, so Eleanor gestured for Harper and Director Arthur Vance to follow her inside the estate.

"Maria, please take Julian upstairs to his playroom," Eleanor instructed the head housekeeper in a hushed tone.

The seven-year-old boy was clinging to the banister, his small shoulders shaking with sobs.

Once they were seated in the formal living room, Eleanor turned her attention to the older board member. "Director Vance, I cannot express how grateful I am that you showed up today."

"Don’t mention it, Eleanor. Gregory is blood," Director Vance said, though his face remained grim. "I know exactly the kind of burden he carried for this family. This is going to be an incredibly brutal process, especially with the baby on the way."

Eleanor offered a nod, resting a hand on her stomach. She then shifted her gaze toward Harper. "Harper, Gregory asked me to relay a message to you before the agents breached the door."

Harper leaned forward slightly, her pulse quickening. "What did he say?"

"He said..." Eleanor paused, taking a unsteady breath to compose herself. "He said he’s deeply sorry that his actions against the Pierce family forced you to sever your relationship with Agent Thorne."

That single sentence was all it took for Harper’s carefully maintained corporate mask to slip...

Her eyes instantly burned with unshed tears.

Fighting back the wave of emotion, Harper fiercely shook her head. "No. He didn’t force my hand. He didn’t."

"You don’t need to carry that guilt, Harper," Eleanor said. "Gregory began scrubbing the studio’s digital footprint the moment he sensed the Department of Justice shifting their focus. He took sole responsibility for the kidnapping of Donovan Pierce. The FBI obviously doesn’t believe he acted alone; they are desperate to find a paper trail linking the crime directly to Mr. Lawson. But Gregory ensured there is nothing left to find."

"The federal sentencing is going to be severe," Eleanor continued, her voice trembling slightly. "He knows the prosecution will push for maximum penalties to crack him. He told me to expect five to ten years in a minimum-security facility."

"Eleanor, what are your immediate plans?" Harper asked.

Eleanor’s gaze swept across the luxurious living room, her eyes heavy with sorrow. "This is the sanctuary Gregory built for us. Legally, the federal asset forfeiture won’t touch it because it’s entirely in my name. But I simply cannot stay here right now, and with the Pierce syndicate still operating in the shadows, I don’t feel secure."

"I have a few secondary properties closer to the financial district," Eleanor added. "I’ll likely relocate there by the end of the week."

Hearing this, Harper immediately shook her head. "Eleanor, I own an empty penthouse located within the Apex executive residential tower. I want you to move in there immediately. The building is patrolled by Mr. Lawson’s private security contractors around the clock. With you being pregnant, I refuse to let you stay anywhere less secure."

Director Vance chimed in. "Harper is correct. As a board member, I can handle the legal defense, but I cannot manage your day-to-day security. Gregory took the fall to protect our corporate ecosystem. Do not give us a reason to worry about your safety."

Eleanor looked deeply at Harper. Slowly, she nodded in immense gratitude. "Alright. I’ll pack a bag tonight."

"Director Vance, there is one final matter I need you to handle," Eleanor said.

"Name it, Eleanor. It’s already done."

"Julian needs to be immediately transferred to a different private academy. The parents of his current classmates are all embedded in the financial sector; they already know about the federal raid. I will not allow my son to be crucified by elite gossip."

"Consider it handled. I’ll pull the strings this afternoon," Director Vance promised.

They lingered for another hour, only standing up to leave when they noticed Eleanor’s exhaustion taking hold.

Stepping back outside the estate, Harper noticed the storm had finally broken...

Director Vance looked up at the sky. The clouds were slowly retreating, allowing a few harsh rays of sunlight to spill across the wet asphalt.

Suddenly, Director Vance’s demeanor shifted. "Come on, Harper. Let’s take a drive. I want you to inspect the Nanshan Media Park renovations."

An hour later, Harper donned a sleek white hard hat and followed Director Vance through the newly acquired industrial lot.

"This sector has been neglected for years," Director Vance explained, gesturing to the construction crews swarming the warehouses. "Before the rival studios can move their equipment in, our engineering division has to conduct rigorous structural diagnostics. If we find any critical load-bearing failures or cut corners in the foundation, we have to tear them down and pour new concrete."

"And if the original developers botched the subterranean infrastructure?" Harper asked. "Do we authorize a total demolition and rebuild from scratch?"

Director Vance nodded approvingly. "Absolutely. Mr. Lawson secured premium leases; we are legally obligated to deliver premium infrastructure. We have to ensure this complex is a state-of-the-art corporate hub."

But as she watched the machinery dig into the earth, Harper smiled a satisfied smile.

Only she and the top tier of Apex Media knew the truth...

The soundstages were irrelevant. Because Jude had blackmailed the governor into reinstating the Nanshan District tax credit, the underlying dirt of this industrial park was about to skyrocket in value.

Once the city officially announced the zoning permits, the real estate alone would be worth billions!