Chapter 6 - The Fall of the Empire
Vance dropped his phone onto the mahogany table. The glass screen cracked cleanly across the center.
Rebecca let out a sharp, hysterical shriek as her phone flashed with an automated bank alert: ACCOUNT ACCESS SUSPENDED — CONTACT COMPLIANCE.
“Vance!” Rebecca screamed, dropping her designer bag onto the floor. “My account is empty! My credit cards are declined! What did you do?!”
My mother, Beatrice, was shaking violently, clutching her husband’s arm. “Arthur! What is happening?! Fix this!”
Arthur turned his furious, bloodshot eyes onto me. He stood up, towering over the table, his face flushed dark purple with rage.
“You did this!” Arthur roared, pointing a trembling finger at my face. “You bitter, ungrateful snake! We raised you! We gave you everything! And you attack your own family because you’re jealous of your sister’s happiness?!”
I stood up slowly, smoothing the front of my tailored blazer. I looked my father dead in the eye without a single trace of fear.
“You didn't raise me, Arthur,” I said, my voice low, cold, and entirely lethal. “You used me. You treated me like an unpaid accountant and a safety net for your favorite daughter’s reckless life. You turned a blind eye while my husband slept in her bed because you thought his stolen money would secure your family’s status.”
Beatrice gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. “What... what did you just say?!”
“Ask them,” I said, gesturing toward Vance and Rebecca.
Beatrice turned to Rebecca, her voice trembling. “Rebecca... what is she talking about?”
Rebecca couldn't look her mother in the eye. She looked down at the newborn in her arms, her lower lip quivering.
“Vance?” Beatrice whispered, turning to my husband.
Vance didn't answer. He was staring at the doorway of the conference room.
The heavy glass doors opened.
Stepping into the room was Daniel, accompanied by two uniformed officers from the NYPD and two special agents from the New York State Attorney General’s Financial Crimes Bureau.
Leading them was Investigator Evelyn Cross.
“Vance Carter? Rebecca Whitmore?” Evelyn announced, holding up an official federal warrant. “You are both under arrest for grand larceny, criminal identity theft, bank fraud, and corporate embezzlement.”
Vance took two steps back toward the window, looking frantically for an exit that did not exist.
“This is a mistake!” Vance yelled, his voice cracking with sheer panic. “My wife authorized those transfers! She gave me her passwords!”
Evelyn Cross smiled thinly, pulling a tablet from her folder. “We have your IP address logs, Mr. Carter. We also have audio recordings from your home office captured last night, along with the auto-pen signature files recovered from your encrypted drive.”
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The police officer stepped forward, pulling steel handcuffs from his belt.
“Hands behind your back, Mr. Carter,” the officer commanded.
