David Mercer didn't even look at Elias.
He didn't slow down. He didn't acknowledge the greeting. David walked straight past Elias as if the man were completely invisible, closing the distance between us with heavy, determined strides.
When David reached me, a hush fell over the entire building that was so profound you could hear the air conditioning humming in the ceiling.
David Mercer, a man who intimidated senators and CEOs, stopped two feet in front of me. He looked at the dangling steel handcuff on my left wrist, and a look of absolute, terrified fury crossed his face. He bowed his head slightly.
"Mr. Vance," David said, his deep voice carrying clearly across the silent marble floor. "Are you injured, sir?"
The silence that followed was apocalyptic.
Elias Sterling froze in the middle of the floor. His outstretched arms slowly dropped to his sides. His brain violently short-circuited. He looked at David, then slowly turned his head to look at me—the old man in the filthy boots and the faded canvas jacket.
The color vanished from Elias's face so fast he looked like a corpse. His mouth opened and closed repeatedly, but no sound came out.
"I'm perfectly fine, David," I replied evenly. I turned my head to Officer Davis, who was currently staring at me with his mouth hanging wide open, realizing he had just handcuffed the billionaire owner of the building.
"Officer," I said calmly, raising my bound wrist. "I believe you can take this off now."
"Y-yes sir. Right away, sir." Officer Davis scrambled forward, his hands shaking violently as he fumbled with the tiny metal key. The cuff clicked open and slid off my wrist. I rubbed the indented red mark on my skin, never taking my eyes off Elias.
Elias’s knees literally buckled slightly. He took a stumbling step backward.
"No," Elias gasped, his voice thin and hollow. "No. That's... you're Arthur Vance? You... you said you were looking at the Phantom."
"I was," I said, my voice turning to steel. I pointed directly at Elias. "David. Secure the black leather briefcase on his desk inside that office. Do not let him touch it."
Two of my massive corporate security guards immediately pushed past Elias, marching into the office. They emerged five seconds later holding the locked briefcase.
"You can't do that!" Elias suddenly shrieked, his panic finally overriding his shock. He lunged toward the guards, desperately trying to grab the briefcase. "That's my private property! You have no warrant!"
David stepped smoothly into Elias's path, shoving him backward so hard the younger man slammed into the side of the pristine Vance Phantom.
I walked over to the security guard holding the briefcase. "Open it."
The guard placed it on the hood of the luxury car and forced the latches open with a heavy snap. I reached inside and pulled out the thick red folder. I held it up in the bright, glaring lights of the showroom for the entire board of directors, the police officers, and the staff to see.
I opened the folder. Inside were hundreds of contracts bearing the Apex Capital Lending logo, completely filled out with twenty-nine percent interest rates and forced-signature addendums.
I turned to my board of directors. "This is what our 'spectacular' sales numbers look like. Elias Sterling has been running a shadow financing company out of our flagship branch. He uses our reputation to lure in vulnerable buyers, isolates them, denies them our internal financing, and extorts them into signing these fraudulent contracts. He’s been skimming millions in predatory interest directly into his own pockets while stamping my name on the paperwork."
A collective gasp echoed from the executives. The financial and legal implications were massive, but the evidence was undeniable, sitting right in front of their eyes.
Elias was hyperventilating, pressing his back against the cold glass of the car window. His confident, arrogant posture had completely collapsed. He looked pathetic.
"Mr. Vance... Arthur, please," Elias begged, tears of pure terror welling in his eyes. He dropped to his knees on the marble floor, his expensive tailored pants wrinkling against the stone. "I... I was going to cut the company in! I can fix the numbers! I can make you so much money, sir! Please, you can't ruin my life!"