Chapter 4 - The Cloud Confession
"What is the meaning of this?!" one of the chief board members shouted, slamming his hand on his table as he stood up. "Is that the pension ledger?!"
"That's a lie! That's a forged document!" Selina screamed, her voice cracking into a high-pitched panic. She lunged toward the podium control panel to pull the plug on the display, but Arthur Vance blocked her path with a calm, stoic smile.
Julian stared at the screen, his eyes wildly scanning the numbers, the shell company names, and Selina’s legal signature digital stamp at the bottom of every wire transfer. He looked at Selina, then at me, completely overwhelmed by the sudden collapse of his reality.
"Selina..." Julian gasped, his voice carrying through his still-active lapel microphone. "What... what are those accounts? You told me those transfers were for the European land acquisitions!"
"Julian, shut up!" Selina hissed, glaring at him with pure hatred. "Don't speak to them!"
"She lied to you, Julian," I said, stepping up the short stairs onto the main stage until I was standing just a few feet away from my husband. "She didn't come to our house three weeks ago because I attacked her downtown. She came because she knew I had spent the previous forty-eight hours tracing her wire transfers. She needed you to eliminate me before I could present this exact file to the board."
Julian shook his head, taking a frantic step back. "No... no, that's impossible! She loves me! We were going to rebuild the company together!"
"She used you, Julian," I said calmly. "And you were so blinded by your own narcissism that you picked up a knife to protect a thief."
"I didn't know about the money!" Julian yelled into the microphone, his hands wildly waving in front of the press cameras. "I swear to God, I didn't know about the embezzlement! Selina handled the off-shore accounts! I had nothing to do with it!"
"Oh, really, Julian?" Selina snapped, turning on him like a cornered viper. If she was going down, she had zero intention of going down alone. "You didn't know?! You signed off on every single transfer! You told me to hide the money so Nora couldn't claim it in the divorce settlement!"
The room gasped in unison. The journalists were practically climbing over the chairs to capture every second of the nuclear meltdown happening on stage.
"You lying bitch!" Julian roared, lunging toward Selina.
The two state officers immediately stepped onto the stage, grabbing Julian’s arms and shoving him back against the podium, forcing his hands behind his back.
"Julian Vance, you are under arrest for corporate fraud and grand larceny," the primary officer announced loudly, snapping heavy steel handcuffs around Julian’s wrists.
"Wait! No! You can't arrest me!" Julian panicked, thrashing against the officers' grip. "I'm the CEO of Vance Global! Nora, tell them! Tell them it was a mistake! Tell them I was protecting you from an intruder!"
I looked at him with an icy composure that sent a visible shiver down his spine.
"I don't need to tell them anything, Julian," I said quietly.
I pulled out my smartphone, connected it to the auditorium’s master sound system via Bluetooth, and pressed play on a single audio file.
High-definition audio blasted through the high-end speakers, filling every corner of the vast hall with sickening clarity:
[Julian's Voice]: "She's gone. I... I did it, Selina. Just like you said. We're free."
[Selina's Voice]: "You did the right thing, Julian. She was going to take half of Vance Global in the divorce. Now we control everything. Call your private security team. We need to handle this before anyone calls the paramedics."
The recorded dialogue echoed off the high ceilings, cutting through the room like a scythe.
Julian’s face went completely hollow. The last shred of his defense, his entire carefully constructed 'intruder' cover story, vanished into thin air. He stared at me in horror, realizing that the very watch I wore as I lay bleeding on our rug had captured his execution order.
Selina fell to her knees on the stage floor, her face buried in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably as the second officer stepped forward, pulling her hands behind her back to apply a second pair of handcuffs.
"Julian Vance," the officer continued, his voice grim as he read the secondary charges, "you are also under arrest for attempted first-degree murder, attempted feticide, and obstruction of justice."
"Feticide?" Selina’s head snapped up from the floor, her eyes wide with shock. "What... what are you talking about?!"
Julian looked at me, tears finally spilling down his cheeks as he realized the full weight of the charges. "Nora... please... the babies..."
"They survived, Julian," I said, stepping right up to his ear as the officers prepared to lead him away. "No thanks to you. And they will grow up knowing that their mother built an empire while their father rotted in a federal prison."
The officers yanked Julian forward, marching him and Selina down the central aisle of the auditorium under a relentless storm of camera flashes, shouting journalists, and furious board members.
I stood alone at the center of the stage, surrounded by the flashing lights, holding my head high.
Arthur Vance walked up beside me, placing a gentle, approving hand on my shoulder. "The board is calling an emergency vote right now, Nora. With Julian in custody and his shares frozen by federal seizure, your fifteen percent plus my bloc gives us total control."
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I looked down at my abdomen, feeling the tiny, subtle flutter beneath my healing wound—a quiet reminder of the lives growing inside me.
"Then let's take back what belongs to us," I said.
