Chapter 6 - The Spider’s Web
Vance Sterling’s calm exterior finally cracked. He slammed his hand against the mahogany table, rattling the crystal glassware.
“You think a simple state AG freeze stops us?” Vance sneered, his eyes narrowing into cold slits. He reached into his jacket pocket, his fingers curling around a sleek satellite communicator. “We own half the regulatory committees in Albany. By morning, that freeze order will be rescinded, and you and your disgraced father will be facing federal indictments for corporate sabotage and wiretapping.”
“Try pressing the transmit button, Vance,” Dad said, stepping closer with a grim, knowing smile. He pulled a small digital receiver from his tactical vest and held it up. “Go ahead. See who picks up.”
Vance stared at the device in Dad’s hand. The green LED light on his satellite communicator flickered twice, turned amber, and then went completely dark.
“You... you tapped our local frequency?” Vance hissed, standing up from his chair.
“We didn't just tap it. We routed it directly to the Federal Reserve’s cyber-forensics division twenty minutes ago while your men were busy picking themselves up off my kitchen floor,” Dad said evenly. “Every shell company, every Cayman account, every illegal bribe funneled through Aurum House over the last five years is currently being decrypted by a federal grand jury. Your syndicate isn’t liquidating Vanguard Media tonight, Vance. Vanguard Media is liquidating you.”
Vanessa let out a sharp, choked sob, burying her face in her hands. The million-dollar sapphire necklace she had worn as a trophy of her supposed victory now looked like a heavy iron shackle around her neck.
“Daniel,” she whispered, her voice shaking with rage and panic as she turned to the man beside her. “You said she was broke! You said her accounts were completely dependent on your corporate guarantees!”
“She... she must have moved the funds before the divorce settlement was finalized!” Daniel stammered, grabbing at his collar as if he couldn't breathe. Sweat beaded across his forehead, ruining his perfectly styled hair. He turned pleading eyes toward me, putting on the pathetic, wounded expression that had manipulated me for years. “Em—baby, please. Look at us. We were married for four years. We built a life together! You can’t destroy everything over a mistake, over a moment of weakness with Vanessa—”
I raised my hand, stopping him dead in his tracks. The word baby tasted like ash in my mouth.
“Don't you ever call me that again,” I said quietly. “You didn't make a mistake, Daniel. You made a career out of betrayal. You thought you could trade me off to men like Vance Sterling to pay your gambling debts and fund your mistress’s lifestyle. But you miscalculated. You forgot that I built Vanguard Media before I ever met you, and I survived without you long before the ink dried on our divorce decree.”
May you like
I turned away from him, dismissing him as completely as if he were a speck of dust on my sleeve.
“Come on, Dad,” I said, buttoning my jacket. “The real audit starts downtown, and I wouldn't want to miss the federal marshals arriving to take our guests of honor away.”
