Chapter 5 - The Dead SpeakInstantly, the massive 4-K projection screen behind the board table flickered to life.
Instead of the corporate financial charts Daria had prepared, the screen displayed a split-feed video. On the left side was Dr. Weston, trembling under the desk lamp, confessing in vivid, agonizing detail to the falsification of the autopsy reports and the million-dollar bribe paid by Daria Kincaid.
On the right side of the screen was a live, secure video feed directly from my penthouse upstairs.
The camera zoomed in. There sat Catherine, holding little Penelope soundly asleep in her arms, looking directly into the camera lens.
A collective gasp sucked all the air out of the boardroom.
Several board members dropped their pens. One woman clutched her chest in sheer horror.
Daria slowly rose from her chair, her face completely drained of color. For the first time in her life, the great empress looked elderly, frail, and utterly terrifyingly cornered. She turned her head toward me slowly, her lips trembling with a mixture of disbelief and venomous rage.
"You..." Daria hissed, her voice a low, toxic snarl. "You ungrateful, pathetic little worm."
"You taught me well, Mother," I said, my voice echoing clearly through the silent room. "You taught me how to bury a lie. But you forgot rule number one of corporate espionage: always verify your assets."
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The heavy oak doors of the boardroom suddenly blew open.
Three federal agents in tactical gear, accompanied by the chief of city police, strode into the room, their badges gleaming under the crystal lights.
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