Chapter 7 - The Freezing of Assets
By Friday morning, the storm had officially made landfall.
The Denver Building Department issued an emergency "Stop-Work Order" on the Aria Tower, citing severe structural deficiencies and suspected building code violations. Within hours, news crews were parked outside the construction site, filming the idle cranes and the locked gates.
At the same time, Mile High Trust officially declared Williamson Development in default of their $80 million loan, freezing all of the project’s operational accounts.
I sat in Sarah Vance’s elegant office, sipping a cup of coffee, while Sarah reviewed the latest financial filings.
"It's a beautiful thing to watch," Sarah said, a satisfied grin on her face. "Since we filed the divorce papers and the petition for emergency financial relief, the judge has frozen all of Diego's personal bank accounts pending the division of assets. And because I filed a motion showing clear evidence of financial dissipation—specifically, the $450,000 he embezzled from your joint accounts to Vanguard Holdings—the court has issued a temporary freeze on his mother’s business accounts as well."
The door to the conference room opened, and Sarah’s assistant stepped in. "Sarah, Valerie... Diego Williamson and his attorney are on line one. They are begging for an emergency settlement meeting."
Sarah looked at me, raising an eyebrow. "What do you think, Valerie? Want to let them squirm?"
"Let's hear what they have to say," I replied. "Put them on speaker."
Sarah clicked the button on the conference phone.
"Valerie! You have to stop this!" Diego’s voice exploded through the speaker, cracking with desperation and rage. He sounded completely unhinged. "You're destroying my family! The bank has frozen our accounts! My father is having chest pains! We can't pay our contractors! Do you have any idea what you've done?"
"I didn't do anything, Diego," I said calmly. "You threw a plate at my head. You stole $450,000 of my money. You used substandard concrete on a skyscraper. I merely turned on the lights so everyone could see the cockroach you are."
"We will settle!" his attorney interrupted, his voice sweating through the speaker. "We are prepared to offer Valerie a complete release of all claims to the Capitol Hill condo, a full refund of the $450,000 with interest, and a generous alimony payment for the next five years. In exchange, she must sign a non-disclosure agreement and agree to withdraw her domestic violence complaint."
"First of all," Sarah intervened, her voice like a steel trap. "You cannot contractually agree to drop criminal charges. That is up to the District Attorney, who is very eager to prosecute a wealthy, high-profile abuser. Second, my client doesn't want your alimony. She wants justice."
"What do you want, Valerie?" Diego whimpered, his arrogance entirely evaporated. "Please. Just tell me what you want."
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"I want you to experience the exact feeling you tried to inflict on me," I said. "I want you to feel powerless. I want you to look at the ruins of your life and realize that you built it all on a foundation of sand. I'll see you in court, Diego."
I reached over and pressed the disconnect button. The silence that followed was incredibly sweet.
