Chapter 6 - The Confession at Dawn
The rain pelted against the frosted glass of the county holding facility’s visitation booth. On the other side of the reinforced security window, my father sat with his hands cuffed to a bolted metal loop on the table.
"You got what you wanted, Natalie," his voice rasped through the static-filled intercom speaker, weak and defeated. "The company is gone. The state has seized the properties. My legacy is ashes."
"You built your legacy on the backs of vulnerable people, Dad," I replied, my voice steady. "And you tried to use me as your scapegoat. Why? Why did you pick me to take the fall?"
My father lowered his head, staring at his shackled wrists. A bitter, humorless laugh escaped his lips.
"Because you were the only one smart enough to figure it out before it was too late," he muttered. "Sterling... Sterling told me you were getting too close to the audits. He said if we didn't pin the initial wire transfers on your corporate login, the federal investigators would trace the entire pipeline back to Vanguard Holdings."
"Vanguard Holdings belongs to Sterling, doesn't it?"
"It belongs to the syndicate that bought out our corporate debt three years ago," my father corrected, lifting his head. "I was just a figurehead, Natalie. When our expansion failed in 2024, I borrowed money from people you don't say no to. Sterling was their fixer. He forced me to move the resident deposits, and when I tried to pull out, he threatened to destroy all of us—including you and Allison."
A cold shiver ran down my spine. The embezzlement wasn't just corporate greed; it was organized crime hiding behind the respectable facade of senior healthcare.
"Where is Sterling now?" I asked sharply.
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"He’s gone," my father whispered, his eyes widening with genuine fear. "He cleaned out his personal accounts yesterday morning and caught a private flight out of Midway. He’s running, Natalie. And he left a trail designed to put both of us in an early grave."
Before I could press him further, a loud siren blared through the maximum-security cell block, and red emergency lights began to rotate along the corridor ceiling.
