Chapter 15 - Behind Prison GlassThe holding facility was fluorescent-lit and reeked of industrial disinfectant. Bernice sat behind the thick plexiglass divider, wearing an orange jumpsuit that somehow failed to diminish her haughty, unbroken posture.
When she saw me walk in with Arthur trailing behind, her eyes widened in pure, unadulterated shock.
"Arthur?" she gasped, pressing her hands against the glass. "You... you're dead. The boat... everyone said..."
"Surprise, Bernice," Arthur said coldly, pulling up the metal stool and sitting down. "The Vance family is remarkably hard to get rid of."
Bernice’s gaze snapped from Arthur to me, her lips curling into a bitter sneer. "So you found out. You let this stranger fill your head with lies, Christopher! After everything I sacrificed for you? Changing your diapers, feeding you, protecting you from the cruel world?"
"You didn't protect me, Bernice. You imprisoned me," I said, my voice cutting through the glass partition like a knife. "You kidnapped me, stole millions of dollars, and tried to murder my wife—who, by the way, was planning to betray you just as fast as you betrayed her."
Bernice flinched, her eyes darting nervously. "She... she told you about the plan?"
"She told me everything," I lied smoothly, watching her panic. "And Detective Miller has your offshore bank account numbers. Unless you sign a full confession right now relinquishing all claims to the estate and detailing every shell company Savannah's family used, I will personally make sure you spend the rest of your natural life in a maximum-security prison."
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Bernice trembled, tears of rage and defeat finally pooling in her eyes. "You're ungrateful. Both of you. I made you who you are!"
"Sign the paper, Bernice," Arthur whispered menacingly. "Or watch your entire empire burn to ash."
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