Chapter 6 - The Fall of the House of Pendelton
The ballroom turned into a battleground of shouting reporters, flashes, and screaming guests.
The Chief Justice picked up the leather binder, his eyes scanning the detailed wire transfers, the state department seals, and Arthur Pendelton’s signature. His face turned pale as he looked up at the Senator.
"Arthur..." the Chief Justice whispered in disbelief. "What is this?"
"It’s a forgery!" Pendelton shrieked, backing toward the backstage curtain. "He’s insane! Grieving madness! Security, shoot him!"
Before Pendelton’s private security detail could draw their weapons, the side doors of the ballroom burst open.
A dozen federal agents wearing blue FBI jackets stormed the room, led by the regional Special Agent in Charge. Vance walked right beside them, carrying a digital tablet streaming live footage from Briar House, where federal teams were already rescuing the remaining children and arresting Rusk’s men.
"Arthur Pendelton!" the lead FBI agent announced over a megaphone. "You are under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder, human trafficking, and grand treason!"
Pendelton turned to run through the backstage exit, but Vance stepped out from behind the curtain, sweeping Pendelton’s legs out from under him.
The senior senator hit the wooden stage floor with a heavy groan.
Within seconds, federal agents were on top of him, pulling his arms behind his back and snapping steel handcuffs around his wrists.
As Pendelton was dragged down the stage steps, past the blinding flashes of fifty news cameras, he looked at Ethan.
"Ethan... please!" Pendelton begged, blood dripping from his nose. "I did it for the family trust! The company was going under! I saved the boys! I kept them alive!"
Ethan stepped in front of the disgraced senator.
He reached down, pulled the chipped blue toy car from his pocket, and held it right in front of Pendelton’s face.
"You didn't save them, Arthur," Ethan said softly, his voice devoid of anger, filled only with absolute contempt. "A brave nine-year-old boy named Jonah saved them. You're going to die in a federal prison."
Ethan turned his back on Pendelton as the FBI dragged the screaming politician out through the side doors.
The reporters swarmed around Ethan, pushing microphones into his face.
"Mr. Caldwell! Are you going to press charges?"
"Mr. Caldwell! What happens to the children now?"
"Who is the third boy?"
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Ethan held up his hand, gathering Lucas, Aaron, and Jonah close to his sides.
"My family is going home," Ethan told the cameras. "And tomorrow, the Caldwell Foundation will purchase every private child shelter in this country and tear them down to the dirt."
