Chapter 9 - The Legal Collapse
Sloan Carmichael screamed as two female federal agents slammed her against the hood of the sports car, clicking the heavy steel handcuffs around her manicured wrists. She immediately began shouting confessions, trying to trade Marcus’s secrets for a reduced sentence before the ink on her booking sheet was even dry.
"It was all him!" Sloan shrieked, her makeup running in the salty sea air. "He forged the insurance papers! He bought the digitalis from the dark web! I just found the killer! Don't let them lock me away!"
Marcus stood completely frozen, his eyes shifting from Victoria to the terrifying, unyielding gaze of William Sterling. He realized, with absolute certainty, that every move he had made for three years had been monitored, cataloged, and turned into a legal execution order.
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"You're going to a federal maximum-security facility, Marcus," William said, stepping forward until he was mere inches from his son-in-law's face. "And if you ever look in my daughter’s direction again, or attempt to speak her name, I will ensure your stay there is remarkably uncomfortable. Take him away."
As Marcus was dragged toward the waiting police cruisers, his pristine public image shattered forever, Victoria let out a long, deep breath—the first real breath she had taken in three years.
