Chapter 4 - Unraveling the Web
While medical personnel entered the house to treat Emily’s injuries, federal techs immediately began securing the basement, bringing up stacks of hard drives, encrypted hardware wallets, and ledgers bound in dark leather.
Derek was pushed down into a chair, handcuffed tightly behind his back. The arrogance that had defined him for years was stripped away, replaced by a pathetic, sweaty panic.
"Thomas... please," Derek stammered, looking at me with wide, desperate eyes. "I love Emily. You know I do! I was just stressed... the pressure from the business... I lost my temper! Tell them to stop! We can fix this! I'll give her everything in a divorce, no contest!"
"You don't get to bargain, Derek," I said, looking down at him with cold detachment. "You hit my daughter. You systematically abused her behind closed doors, thinking her family was too weak to protect her. You used her innocent trust to hide millions of dollars in illicit transactions."
"I can give them names!" Derek pleaded, turning to Calder. "I have names of the directors! The politicians involved! I can testify!"
Calder chuckled dryly, shaking his head. "We already have the names, Mr. Vance. What we needed were the decrypted physical keys contained on the local server in your basement—the ones you so helpfully tried to wipe, triggering our emergency backup acquisition protocol. Your father-in-law here set up the tracing algorithm three weeks ago when he suspected what you were doing to Emily."
Derek stared at me in horror. "You... you set me up?"
"No, Derek," I replied softly. "You set yourself up the moment you placed your hands on my child. I simply ensured that when you fell, you would never be able to stand up again."
The paramedics gently helped Emily onto a stretcher to transport her to the hospital for a full evaluation. I walked alongside her, holding her hand tightly.
As we passed Derek, Emily stopped the paramedics for a moment. She looked at her husband—the man who had controlled her every movement, isolated her from her friends, and made her fear for her life every night.
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"I’m taking my life back, Derek," she said, her voice clear and strong despite the pain in her jaw. "And you are going to spend the rest of yours in a cell."
Derek tried to speak, but no words came out. The police escorted him out into the freezing night air, his designer suit ruined, his reputation destroyed, and his freedom permanently gone.
