Chapter 6 - The Shadows of Greenwich
By midnight, the news of the St. Regis wedding scandal had set the internet on fire.
#ClaraSterling, #SterlingLies, and #ArthurSterling were trending globally. Stock in Sterling Bio-Tech had plummeted thirty-four percent in after-hours trading.
Inside the master study of the Sterling estate in Greenwich, Arthur Sterling stood behind his massive mahogany desk, pouring himself a third glass of straight bourbon. His wedding suit was ruined, his tie undone.
Standing across from him was Viktor Vance—no relation to Leo, but a ruthless private security contractor who handled "off-the-record cleaning" for billionaires.
"They're at an unlisted property near Bear Mountain," Viktor said, holding a tablet showing a real-time cell tower triangulation map. "Dr. Reed used a satellite phone twenty minutes ago to ping a federal prosecutor in Albany."
"The prosecutor?" Arthur’s eyes narrowed into cold, lethal slits.
"Yes. They're preparing to hand over the Swiss medical records and the bio-metric drive at 9:00 AM tomorrow at the Federal Courthouse in Manhattan."
Arthur slammed his bourbon glass onto the desk, shattering the heavy crystal base. "I built this empire! I gave that girl everything—a home, clothes, tutors, fine art! And she repays me by siding with a dead scientist's rat of a son?"
"What do you want us to do, Mr. Sterling?" Viktor asked calmly. "If this gets to the federal judge, you're facing forty years in a maximum-security facility for medical fraud, kidnapping, and wire fraud."
Arthur walked to the floor-to-ceiling window looking out over his vast, manicured estate. The noble father was gone. In his place was a cornered predator willing to burn everything to survive.
May you like
"Take six men," Arthur commanded, his voice dark and cold as ice. "Go to the cabin. Secure the drive. And ensure that my daughter and the boy suffer a fatal accident involving kerosene and timber. The public will grieve deeply for a tragic heiress who died in a cabin fire before she could clear her father's name."
Viktor nodded once. "Understood, sir."
