Chapter 7 - The Collapse
Chaos erupted. The underwriters from Goldman Sachs immediately packed their briefcases and walked out of the room without saying a word. The board members were shouting, demanding explanations.
Arthur marched down the length of the table toward me, his face purple with rage. He raised his hand as if he were about to strike me. "You miserable bitch! You ruined us! I will destroy you!"
Before he could reach me, the heavy glass doors of the boardroom swung open.
Four federal agents stepped inside, led by Detective Miller and an SEC investigator.
"Arthur Harrison? Mark Harrison?" the lead agent announced. "You are under arrest for corporate fraud, embezzlement, and conspiracy."
Mark looked around frantically, as if looking for an escape route, but there was none. The agents moved quickly, clicking handcuffs around his wrists.
"Clara! Fix this!" my mother screamed, running into the boardroom from the reception area. She had been waiting outside to celebrate the IPO. "You're the accountant! Tell them it's a mistake!"
"It's not a mistake, Mom," I said, closing my laptop. "I gave them the keys."
Arthur struggled against the agents as they led him away. He stopped in front of me, his eyes filled with a venomous hatred. "Why? Because of that stupid kid? Because of a little pool water?"
"You told me she had to learn, Dad," I whispered so only he could hear. "I learned instead. I learned that as long as you had power, my daughter would never be safe. So I took it."
Vanessa was sitting on the floor, weeping hysterically as an agent handed her a legal notice. Since her villa had been purchased with illicitly diverted corporate funds, it was being seized immediately under asset forfeiture laws. She was being evicted.
May you like
As they were marched down the hallway in handcuffs, surrounded by flashing cameras from the press that had already gathered downstairs, I felt a heavy weight lift from my shoulders.
The empire had fallen. And I was the one who pulled the pin.
