Chapter 19 - Eric’s Empire CollapsesDonovan Digital did not collapse overnight.
Banks do not close accounts because of headlines alone.
Contracts do not automatically vanish.
Investigators followed procedures.
Auditors quantified losses.
Attorneys argued.
Then Westbridge terminated its active technology contract for material breach.
A neighboring district followed after its own review.
The education foundation demanded repayment on unsupported invoices.
Cash flow disappeared.
Eric laid off staff.
Some employees had known nothing.
That made Cameron uncomfortable.
He had imagined Eric’s downfall as satisfying.
Instead, innocent workers carried boxes from the office.
Daniel understood.
“Consequences spread.”
“That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have them.”
“No.”
“But other people get hurt.”
“Yes.”
Cameron hated complicated answers.
Life kept giving them anyway.
Eric eventually agreed to sell company assets while litigation continued.
His house went on the market.
The expensive one.
Brayden moved with him into a rental apartment after Eric and Mrs. Donovan separated.
Cameron heard through Tessa.
He felt no joy.
Brayden had been entitled.
He had cheated.
He deleted evidence.
But he was also thirteen.
The adult empire had been built around him long before he understood the price.
Eric later pleaded guilty to a financial offense tied to false invoicing under an agreement requiring restitution and cooperation.
The exact restitution amount remained subject to court findings and civil settlements.
Nolan Vance reached his own agreement concerning procurement misconduct and unauthorized disclosure of secure testing material.
Aaron’s cooperation helped establish both cases.
No handcuffs at school.
No dramatic raid in front of students.
Paperwork.
Court dates.
Bank transfers.
Licenses.
Contracts.
Reputation.
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That was how power disappeared in real life.
One document at a time.
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