Chapter 7 - THE FALL OF THE QUEENThe ballroom plunged into a dead, suffocating silence.
Whispers erupted like wildfire as high-definition surveillance footage began to play on the giant screen. The audience watched in horror as the video showed Evelyn screaming terrifying threats at six-year-old Mayia in the privacy of the mansion. Then came the audio recordings of her phone calls with her accomplice, plotting the systematic destruction and takeover of Vance Industries.
In the front row, Evelyn’s face drained of all color. The emerald gown that made her look like royalty suddenly felt like a straitjacket. She stood up, her legs shaking violently, trying to force a desperate, trembling smile.
"Arthur...!" she shrieked, her voice cutting through the stunned silence. "This is a digital forgery! Turn it off! People, he’s lying, he’s unstable—!"
"Cut the mic," Arthur commanded in a voice so cold and powerful that the sound engineer froze and instantly obeyed.
Arthur walked slowly down the stage steps, his eyes locked onto the woman who had tried to destroy his life. Behind him, federal marshals and local police officers pushed their way through the paralyzed crowd, their heavy footsteps echoing loudly across the marble floor.
"Evelyn Cruz," Arthur’s voice boomed through the hall, devoid of any mercy. "You are under arrest for multi-state financial fraud, identity theft, child psychological abuse, and conspiracy to commit corporate espionage."
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Before Evelyn could lunge toward the exit, two officers grabbed her arms, clicking cold steel handcuffs around her delicate, manicured wrists. As they dragged her kicking and screaming past the flashes of a hundred cameras—her makeup running down her face in ugly streaks of mascara—she locked eyes with Arthur one last time.
In that final glance, there was no sadness in Arthur’s eyes—only the terrifying satisfaction of a predator who had played dead just long enough to let the wolf walk directly into his cage.
