Chapter 14 - The Trap ClosesI didn't flinch. I remained seated behind the heavy mahogany desk, looking up at Richard with a calm composure that visibly unsettled him.
"You're very confident, Richard," I said, my voice echoing clearly in the quiet room. "Just like your uncle Julian. Just like Grant."
Richard scoffed, stepping closer and slamming his briefcase onto the desk. "Spare me the philosophical lecture, Miller. You're finished. The magistrate signed the seizure order an hour ago. Every dime you own legally reverts to the corporate holding entity—which I control."
"Did he?" a deep voice interrupted from the doorway.
Richard spun around as the heavy office doors clicked shut and locked from the outside.
Stepping out from the shadows of the hallway was Detective Hayes, flanked not by local bailiffs, but by four heavily armed federal agents wearing tactical vests bearing FBI insignia.
"Richard Vance," Detective Hayes announced, pulling an official federal arrest warrant from his inner pocket. "You are under arrest for conspiracy to commit financial fraud, witness tampering, and obstruction of justice."
Richard’s arrogant smirk instantly vanished. Color drained from his face as he looked from Hayes to the federal agents closing in around him.
"This is a mistake!" Richard shouted, his voice cracking with sudden panic. "That seizure order is legitimate! The magistrate signed it!"
"The magistrate signed a falsified document that you transmitted through an unencrypted server monitored by federal cyber-crime units," Hayes replied smoothly, stepping forward and snapping steel cuffs around Richard’s wrists. "Your digital signature was tracked in real-time, Mr. Vance. Along with every communication you had with Vanessa and Julian over the past week."
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Richard struggled against the cuffs, glaring daggers at me. "You set me up! This is entrapment!"
"No, Richard," I said softly, standing up from my desk and buttoning my suit jacket. "This is business."
