Chapter 18 - The Final ConfessionThree days later, seated behind the reinforced glass of the county detention visitation room, Vanessa Vale looked nothing like the radiant bride who had worn a fifty-thousand-euro silk gown under the crystal chandeliers. Her hair was unwashed, her face pale and drawn, and the expensive designer clothes replaced by a coarse orange jumpsuit.
She stared across the metal table at me and Adrian, her eyes burning with a bitter, defeated fury.
"You should have just stayed home, Maya," Vanessa whispered through the intercom speaker, her voice cracked and venomous. "You were nothing. You lived in a decaying house with a dying mother, wearing hand-me-downs while I built an empire."
"You didn't build anything, Vanessa," Adrian answered calmly, leaning forward so she could see the absolute clarity in his eyes. "You stole, you lied, and you tried to destroy the people who actually loved me. And now, your empire is gone."
"Julian won't let this go," she hissed, a manic gleam flashing in her eyes. "He has people everywhere—"
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"Julian Vance was arrested at a private airfield in Zurich four hours ago," I interrupted softly, resting my hand over Adrian's on the table. "Your empire didn't have a foundation, Vanessa. It was built on sand. And the tide finally came in."
Vanessa opened her mouth to scream, but the heavy security door behind her buzzed open, and two guards stepped forward to escort her back to her cell. She was pulled away into the shadows, her angry protests fading down the concrete hallway until there was nothing left at all.
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