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The digital deadbolt beeped, a sharp electronic chord slicing through the frozen silence of the kitchen at 6:15 AM. / Chapter 8 / 19

Chapter 8

The afternoon sun beat down on the federal courthouse steps as the gavel finally came down on Julian Vance’s criminal indictment. The federal judge didn’t even blink when sentencing Julian to seven consecutive years in a medium-security correctional facility, followed by five years of strict probation and mandatory restitution payments he would never be able to afford.

I watched from the gallery, sitting beside Darcy in a sharp charcoal suit that practically radiated quiet, unstoppable power.

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I stepped past the door frame, my leather shoes clicking softly against the linoleum floor.

I stepped past the door frame, my leather shoes clicking softly against...

The screech of the chopper’s rotor blades vibrated directly through the freezing slate beneath my spine. The blinding white vortex of snow kicked up by the downdraft burned my eyes, but I forced my lids open, locking my gaze onto the amber visor of the rescue specialist dropping out of the sky.

The screech of the chopper’s rotor blades vibrated directly through the...

Daniel stepped toward the bed, his polished leather shoes squeaking against the pristine hospital linoleum. He reached for the tray table, his fingers brushing the edge of the papers. His voice was low, coated in a practiced, corporate calm that made my stomach churn worse than the spiked blood pressure.

Daniel stepped toward the bed, his polished leather shoes squeaking agai...

When the bailiffs grabbed Julian by his orange jumpsuit shoulders to drag him back down to the holding cells, he twisted his head around, his eyes locking onto mine with a desperate, pathetic plea. His lips moved silently behind the glass partition, begging for just one shred of mercy, one nod of recognition from the woman he had once locked in a freezing kitchen.

I didn't blink. I didn't smile. I simply pulled out my gold-plated fountain pen and began signing a completely unrelated corporate merger document, dismissing him entirely from my reality like a speck of dust on a freshly polished table.

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