Chapter 5 - The Collapse of the Empire
Before Victoria or Graham could respond, heavy footsteps echoed from the foyer.
Four uniformed federal agents, accompanied by two officers from the Securities and Exchange Commission, walked into the ballroom.
The lead agent, a stern woman with a gold badge pinned to her coat, held up a federal warrant.
“Graham Vance, Savannah Ardell, and Victoria Ardell,” the agent announced loudly. “You are under arrest for federal wire fraud, attempted murder by poisoning, corporate embezzlement, and forgery.”
“This is absurd!” Graham screamed as two agents stepped behind him, pulling his arms behind his back and snapping steel handcuffs around his wrists. “I am the CEO of Vance Logistics! You can’t touch me!”
“You were the CEO, Graham,” Harrison said calmly, pulling a document from his coat. “As fifty-one percent shareholder, Eleanor removed you from the board twenty minutes ago. Your assets have been frozen, your passport is revoked, and your bail is blocked.”
Savannah began to cry hysterically as an agent cuffed her jewel-encrusted wrists. “Mom! Do something! Call the Mayor!”
Victoria Ardell looked at her daughter, then at Graham, and finally at me. Her regal composure was entirely shattered, her silver dress stained with champagne, her hair disheveled.
“You ruined us,” Victoria hissed, her voice trembling with pure hatred as the agents led her away. “You crippled freak... you ruined everything!”
“You ruined yourselves when you confused my patience for weakness,” I replied coldly.
As the federal agents dragged the bride, the groom, and the mother-of-the-bride out through the main doors in front of three hundred high-society witnesses, the ballroom fell into a stunned, breathless silence.
May you like
I turned my wheelchair toward the main aisle.
Harrison stepped behind my chair, pushing me gently toward the exit, while the guests quietly parted like the Red Sea, their faces filled with awe, shame, and newfound terror.
