Chapter 15 - The Unlikely Ally
The next morning, I visited the state penitentiary.
Grant sat behind the thick glass panel, dressed in a dull orange jumpsuit. His hair was unwashed, his eyes bloodshot, and his hands trembled as he picked up the intercom phone.
"Mara..." he croaked, looking at me with a mix of shame and fear. "Are you here to mock me?"
"I'm here to offer you a choice, Grant," I said quietly into the phone.
"What choice? I'm looking at fifteen years in federal prison! My own father abandoned me! He hired top-tier lawyers for himself and left me with a public defender!"
"I know," I said. "I know he threatened you. I know he ordered you to bring Tessa into our home to push me over the edge."
Grant blinked, tears filling his eyes. "You... you know?"
"I know he killed my father, Grant."
Grant’s breath hitched. He dropped his gaze to the metal table, unable to look me in the eye. That was all the confirmation I needed. He knew.
"I have the ledger you hid from him," I continued. "I have the wire logs between you and Richard's shell company. If you testify against your father in federal court, I will instruct my legal team to request leniency on your fraud charges. You won't spend your life in prison, and one day, when you serve your time, you might actually be able to look your children in the face."
Grant wept quietly into his hands. After a long minute, he raised his head.
May you like
"He's holding the annual Sterling Global Gala tomorrow night at the Palmer House in Chicago," Grant whispered. "He's announcing the final acquisition of Vance Logistics. If he signs that contract on stage... it's over. He absorbs your company legally."
"Then I guess I have a party to crash," I said.
