Chapter 14 - The Return of the ArchitectThat evening, after putting little Maya to bed, Roman sat at the antique oak desk in the corner of the bedroom. The house was quiet, save for the rhythmic crash of the Atlantic waves outside.
Celeste walked in, holding a cup of chamomile tea. She stopped when she saw the expression on his face.
"You got a visitor today," she said softly, setting the mug down. It wasn't a question.
Roman looked up, meeting her gaze without flinching. "Marco came by. Federal Agent David Vance has the Vanguard files. And Victor Vance is the one who handed him the keys."
Celeste didn't panic. She didn't drop her tea. Instead, a cold, clinical calm washed over her features, exactly like a master chess player realizing the opponent had finally made a predictable move.
"Victor is getting desperate," she said quietly, walking over to the desk and leaning against the edge. "He thinks because we left Chicago, we forgot how the board works."
"What do you want to do, Celeste?" Roman asked, his voice steady. "We can disappear. I have enough cash tucked away to buy new identities, set up a farm in New Zealand, and never look back."
Celeste looked down at him, a faint, proud smile touching her lips. She reached out, resting her hand gently on his cheek.
"Run away from an old man with a grudge? After everything we built?" She shook her head. "No, Roman. If Victor wants to play with federal agents, we'll give him a federal investigation he'll never forget."
"You have a plan," Roman stated.
"I always have a plan," she replied, opening the bottom drawer of the desk and pulling out a sleek, encrypted laptop that hadn't been powered on in three years. "Victor thinks he's the one pulling the strings. But he forgot that every shell account he handed to Agent Vance still routes through a master trust."
She plugged the device in, the screen flickering to life with a cascade of green terminal code.
"A trust that you control?" Roman asked, a hint of dark amusement in his voice.
"A trust," Celeste corrected, her fingers flying across the mechanical keyboard with blistering speed, "that reports directly to the Department of Justice's internal corruption division. When Agent Vance opens that file tomorrow morning, he isn't going to find evidence against me."
May you like
She pressed the enter key with a soft, decisive click.
"He's going to find concrete proof that Victor Vance has been funding the federal prosecutor's offshore retirement fund for the last five years."
