Chapter 6 - The Federal Sweep
“FBI! DROP YOUR WEAPON!”
The roar echoed through the penthouse office like thunder.
Before Spencer could even process the command, three heavily armored tactical agents swarmed through the doorway, pinning him face-first against the mahogany desk with brutal efficiency. The suppressed pistol flew from his hand, clattering loudly across the marble floor.
“Get off me! Do you know who I am? I’m the victim here! My mother is insane!” Spencer screamed, thrashing wildly beneath the boots of the federal agents.
From behind the velvet drapes, Naomi stepped out, holding her laptop high in the air with a triumphant smile.
“He’s not the victim, agents,” Naomi announced loudly, tapping her screen. “Every single transaction, every extortion threat, and every piece of evidence proving his criminal syndicate and financial fraud has just been successfully uploaded to the federal cyber-crimes division database. Including his confession to attempted assault on a civilian.”
The lead agent—a tall, sharp-eyed woman with a tactical badge reading Agent Miller—stepped forward. She looked down at Spencer, who was now handcuffed and snarling with impotent rage, before turning her gaze to Abigail.
“Mrs. Riley?” Agent Miller asked respectfully. “Are you alright?”
Abigail let out a long, shuddering breath. The icy armor she had worn all evening finally cracked, and she felt a single tear trace its way down her cheek. But behind that tear was a profound, liberating sense of peace.
“I’m better than alright, Agent,” Abigail said softly, reaching into her inner jacket pocket and pulling out the folded lottery ticket. “I’m finally free.”
As Spencer was dragged out of the penthouse in handcuffs, screaming obscenities and hurling venomous threats at his mother, Agent Miller looked at the ticket in Abigail’s hand.
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“Is that...?”
“Twenty million dollars,” Abigail nodded, a faint, resolute smile touching her lips. “And not a single penny of it is going toward a liar.”
