Chapter 7 - THE DOSSIER OF CORRUPTIONThe living room fell into a dead, suffocating silence. Even little Leo, sensing the immense gravity of the moment, buried his face into Arthur’s coat.
Arthur looked down at the tablet resting on the glass coffee table. The screen was unlocked, displaying a digital folder labeled Project Lazarus - Financial Ledger & Operational Plan.
"Go ahead, Arthur," Julian said quietly, gesturing to the tablet. "Read the files. Every single dollar you wired over the last six years didn't go to pediatricians or groceries. It went straight into shell corporations managed by Marcus to buy off local medical examiners, forge cremation certificates, and bribe pharmaceutical regulators."
Arthur stepped forward and picked up the tablet. His fingers scrolled through the endless rows of bank routing numbers, offshore accounts, and wire transfer confirmations—including every single one of his monthly $1,500 transfers, plus the recent demands for double.
"You monsters," Arthur whispered, his voice trembling not with grief, but with a cold, terrifying fury. "You turned my daughter's life into a corporate stock portfolio."
Claire was weeping openly now, rocking back and forth on the stairs. "Dad... at first, I didn't want any part of it. Marcus promised it would only be for six months. Just long enough to get the lab off the ground, and then we would 'find' me, reveal I had amnesia, and come back. But... but the money was too good. The life was too easy. And every time I tried to walk away, Marcus threatened to take Leo away from me forever."
"That's domestic abuse combined with federal wire fraud and identity falsification," Frank said, pulling out his smartphone and tapping the screen. "That’s easily twenty years in a federal penitentiary for both of you."
Marcus lunged forward toward the front door, desperate to make a run for it. But Frank was faster. With a swift, practiced motion, the retired detective tripped Marcus, sending him crashing face-first onto the hardwood floor, pinning his arm behind his back with a sharp click of handcuffs.
"Stay down, CEO," Frank grunted, pressing his knee firmly into Marcus’s shoulder blade.
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Claire screamed, covering her mouth as her husband was subdued on the floor of their luxurious living room.
"It’s over, Claire," Arthur said, looking down at his daughter with eyes that felt ancient and hollow. "You died six years ago. And today... you stay dead."
