Chapter 4 - THE FIRST TRAP SPRINGS"Sit down, Mother," I commanded, pointing to her seat. "You wanted the power of attorney. You wanted the company shares. Let’s make sure your hands are entirely clean before you take them."
My father slammed his hand on the table. "This is absurd! I built this company! You are nothing without me, Devin! You’ll sign whatever we put in front of you, or we’ll ruin you completely!"
"Dad," I smiled, a cold, empty expression that made him flinch for the first time in his life. "Look at the document in front of you. Read paragraph four."
My father snatched the top paper, his eyes scanning the dense legal jargon. As he read, the color rapidly drained from his sun-baked face. His breathing turned shallow.
"This... this is a self-incrimination waiver," he choked out, looking up in sheer terror. "If I sign this, and there’s any financial discrepancy... it acts as an immediate confession of corporate fraud!"
"Precisely," Attorney Harrison added, opening his briefcase and pulling out three separate manila folders. "And thanks to the hard evidence provided this morning by Mrs. Ashley Sterling, we already have concrete proof of twenty-four distinct counts of embezzlement, tax evasion, and illicit asset stripping originating from your personal terminal, Mr. Sterling."
Stephanie shrieked, jumping out of her chair. "That's a lie! That bitch planted something! She stole those files!"
"She didn't steal anything, Stephanie," I said, walking over to the counter and picking up my phone. I pressed play, and the pristine, crystal-clear audio of Stephanie’s voice echoed through the dining room:
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“Tomorrow, Ashley signs the power of attorney. Then we get rid of her and the boy... Once Devin signs, we transfer the company shares before he realizes what happened.”
The silence in the room became absolute, suffocating, and terrifying.
