Chapter 16 - The Trap is Set
Back at the estate, Clara and Leo worked late into the night analyzing corporate filings and tracking financial trails. The glow of computer monitors illuminated their exhausted faces.
"Look at this, Clara," Leo pointed at a string of digital transactions on his screen. "Vance isn't just acting on his own. He’s routing funds through a shell company registered in the Cayman Islands—the exact same corporate structure your mother-in-law used years ago for her insurance fraud schemes."
"So Margaret is still pulling strings from inside prison," Clara realized, a cold realization washing over her. "She’s using Vance as her proxy to launch a final, desperate offensive."
"Exactly," Leo nodded. "Which means we don't just fight the injunction. We expose the collusion between Vance and Margaret. If we can prove to the judge that this lawsuit is a retaliatory continuation of her criminal conspiracy, the court will throw it out permanently and disbar Vance for good."
Suddenly, the heavy oak doors of the study flew open. Adam rushed in, his phone pressed to his ear, his face pale with shock.
"Hold on," Adam spoke into the device before lowering it. He looked at Clara and Leo with grave urgency. "That was the warden’s office at the state penitentiary. Margaret just had an unauthorized visitor—Harrison Vance. And twenty minutes after he left, prison officials intercepted an encrypted digital signature transmission originating from the visitor’s booth targeting corporate headquarters."
Clara stood up slowly, her instincts sharpening. "They’re executing the corporate takeover right now."
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"We need to get to the downtown district court before judge Vance signs the emergency freeze order," Leo said, grabbing his briefcase. "If that injunction goes through by morning, our accounts will be locked, and we won't even have the funds to pay our operational expenses."
Adam grabbed his car keys off the mantle, his jaw set in cold determination. "Let's move. We end this tonight."
