Chapter 7 - The Arrest of Sloane Mercer
While Grant was being escorted out of the Bennett Meridian building by private security through the basement freight elevator to avoid the press, the NYPD financial crimes unit was executing a warrant at a luxury high-rise in Soho.
Sloane Mercer stood in her living room, wrapped in a plush silk bathrobe, surrounded by half-packed designer luggage. Her floor was covered with open jewelry boxes, stacks of foreign currency, and three passports.
"Ms. Mercer?" Detective Ramirez said, stepping into the apartment with two uniformed officers behind him.
Sloane spun around, dropping a velvet Cartier box onto the hardwood floor. "What is the meaning of this?! You can't just walk into my private home!"
"Sloane Mercer, you are under arrest for grand larceny, corporate embezzlement, and wire fraud," Detective Ramirez said calmly, pulling a pair of steel handcuffs from his belt.
"This is a mistake!" Sloane screamed, pulling her hands back in terror. "Grant Bennett authorized every single transaction! He bought this condo for me! He approved the branding invoices!"
"Mr. Bennett's personal signatures on those invoices were digitally forged using a third-party software trace," Detective Ramirez replied, snapping the cold steel cuffs over her wrists. "A software trace provided directly by Mrs. Claire Bennett's forensic accounting team."
Sloane's eyes widened in horror. "Claire... she framed me?!"
"No, Ms. Mercer," Detective Ramirez smirked slightly as he led her toward the door. "She just didn't let you delete your browser history from the company server. You downloaded the signature template on October 12th at 2:00 AM from Room 2704 at The Lowell."
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Sloane let out a desperate, screeching sob as she was marched out into the hallway, past her wealthy neighbors who stood at their doors holding their phones up, recording her arrest for social media.
By 5:00 PM, the video of Sloane Mercer being led out of her Soho building in handcuffs was trending number one worldwide alongside the video of the gender reveal.
