Chapter 6 - The Chicago Connection
"Well, well, the prodigal grandson finally calls," Robert Vance’s voice crackled through the phone speaker, dripping with a cynical, sharp amusement that instantly grated on Julian's already frayed nerves. "I take it Eleanor finally cut off the credit card taps, did she? It always comes down to money with that woman."
"It's worse than that," Julian replied, keeping his voice carefully neutral while Maya hovered anxiously over his shoulder, straining to hear every syllable. "She didn't just restrict the monthly allowance. She completely revoked my primary beneficiary status on the main family real estate trust following a minor domestic disagreement."
A low whistle came through the receiver. "Revoked? Without a formal board vote or a family council resolution? That's technically a direct violation of the 1998 corporate charter your grandfather set up when he incorporated Vance Holdings."
Maya let out a sharp, triumphant gasp, her hands flying to her mouth as she exchanged a wide-eyed look of validation with Julian.
"Can we challenge it?" Maya whispered loudly, leaning in close enough for her breath to brush against the microphone.
"Who's that in the background?" Robert asked, his tone instantly sharpening with professional skepticism. "Is that your fiancée? The one everyone in the family has been whispering about at the country club?"
"It's Maya," Julian answered stiffly. "And yes, she's right here with me. We want to know if we have grounds for an emergency injunction to freeze Eleanor's corporate asset transfers before she liquidates the downtown commercial properties."
There was a long, heavy pause on the line. Julian could hear the faint sound of shuffling papers and the dull hum of a late-night television playing in the background of Robert's Chicago office.
"Listen to me very carefully, kids," Robert said, his voice dropping its previous playful tone and turning dead serious. "If we file an injunction against Eleanor, we aren't just filing a civil lawsuit. We are declaring open corporate warfare. Your mother controls eighty-five percent of the voting shares in Vance Holdings. If you push her into a corner legally, she won't just fight back—she will legally bury you both so deep in litigation debt that you'll be paying off court fees until your fiftieth birthdays."
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"She can't do that if the trust documents are airtight in our favor," Maya argued aggressively, grabbing the phone from Julian's hand. "Look, Uncle Robert, we have copies of the original 1998 foundational papers stored in our digital cloud drive. Julian sent them to me last month when we were looking at buying a vacation home."
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