Chapter 5 - The Collapse of Cards
By 2:00 PM, Derek was sitting on his suitcase on the sidewalk outside his former home, his phone jammed against his ear.
He had called twelve different business partners, six personal friends, and three high-end defense attorneys in Charlotte. Every single one of them had turned him down.
"Derek, I can't touch this," his primary corporate lawyer, Howard Vance (no relation), had told him ten minutes earlier. "The federal freeze is absolute. Thorne, Sterling & Sterling has placed a lis pendens on every piece of real estate you own. If I take a retainer from you, the feds will seize it as proceeds of fraud."
"Howard, you've known me for eight years!" Derek wept into the receiver. "Help me!"
"I am helping you, Derek. My advice? Get a public defender and sign whatever settlement agreement Simone offers. Because if this goes to a jury in Manhattan, you're looking at fifteen years in a federal penitentiary."
The line went dead.
A silver Mercedes sedan pulled up to the curb. The window rolled down, revealing Candace’s father, Richard Miller—a wealthy textile executive from Atlanta who had financed Derek’s Bahamas wedding.
Derek felt a sudden surge of hope. He scrambled to his feet, dragging his suitcase behind him.
"Mr. Miller! Thank God! Did Candace tell you—"
Richard Miller stepped out of the car. He didn't look angry; he looked disgusted. Without saying a word, he swung his right fist straight into Derek’s jaw.
The blow sent Derek sprawling onto the wet grass of his lawn.
"You son of a bitch," Miller spat, standing over him while flexing his bruised knuckles. "You used my daughter to legitimize your fraudulent business deals? You told us you were a multi-millionaire!"
"Mr. Miller, I can explain!" Derek gasped, holding his hand to his bleeding lip. "The money is there! It’s just frozen because of my ex-wife!"
"She's not your ex-wife, you idiot!" Miller shouted. "My lawyers spent the morning checking the registry! My daughter was never legally married to you! You dragged my family name into a felony bigamy case!"
Miller pulled an envelope from his coat pocket and threw it onto Derek’s chest.
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"That's a civil suit for annulment, fraud, and emotional distress," Miller said cold. "My lawyers are suing you for every dime you took from Candace's trust fund. If I ever see you near my daughter again, I won't call my lawyers—I'll call my friends in the state police."
Miller got back into his Mercedes and drove away, leaving Derek bleeding on the wet grass beside his lonely suitcase.
