Chapter 5 - THE SCHNEIDER FAMILY’S DIRTY SECRETSLydia, seeing that her daughter’s emotional manipulation had completely failed, decided to shift tactics. Her face twisted into a mask of venomous fury.
"You ungrateful little brat!" Lydia shrieked, pointing a shaking finger directly at Alexander. "We gave you social standing! We introduced you to the investors who funded your tech startup! Without our circle, you’d still be living in a damp basement eating cabbage soup with this old cleaning woman!"
"Mother, shut up!" Bianca hissed, her eyes darting frantically toward the police officers.
Too late. The senior officer’s ears perked up. He looked up from his notepad, pencil poised.
"Hold on," the officer said, stepping closer. "Did you just say you introduced him to the investors who funded his startup?"
"Yes! What of it?" Lydia snapped, high on adrenaline and panic. "We built his career! He owes everything to us! Taking a little money back for our emergency is just a drop in the ocean compared to what we poured into his pathetic life!"
Advocate Weber smiled—a thin, razor-sharp smile that reached his eyes.
"Fascinating," Weber murmured, opening another folder from his briefcase. "Because according to the financial audit we conducted on Alexander’s startup last month, your husband Ewald invested precisely zero euros of his own capital. In fact, Ewald’s investment firm was liquidated by federal regulators three years ago for corporate tax fraud and embezzlement."
Ewald’s face turned the color of a bruised plum. "That... that is slander! That’s confidential corporate information!"
"It’s public court record, Herr Schneider," Weber corrected smoothly. "And furthermore, our audit revealed something even more interesting. Three months ago, a mysterious wire transfer of two hundred thousand euros was funneled from Alexander’s corporate subsidiary account into an offshore account registered under—guess whose name?—Ah, yes. Ewald and Lydia Schneider."
Alexander whipped his head around, staring at his father-in-law. "What? Ewald, you said that was an emergency bridge loan for European supply chain expansion!"
Ewald swallowed hard, his throat dry, unable to find a single word to defend himself.
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The senior police officer clicked his pen shut with a sharp snap.
"Alright, folks," the officer announced, his voice echoing in the grand dining room. "We have documented financial fraud, attempted asset seizure, extortion, and now clear evidence of corporate embezzlement across state lines. Herr Ewald Schneider, Frau Lydia Schneider, and Frau Bianca Morgen—you are all formally detained for questioning. Turn around and place your hands behind your back."
