Chapter 6 - The Fall of the House of Vale
“Once the car burns, they’ll call it suicide. Her father will be too ashamed to question it.”
Adrian’s recorded voice boomed through the cathedral.
The crowd froze. The reporters stopped shouting and started recording with their phones.
“And the trust?” Celeste’s laughing voice followed.
“Transfers to me after death.”
Celeste let out a choked sob at the altar, realizing exactly what was happening. She turned to run toward the back exit, but the heavy doors at the rear of the church suddenly swung open.
Half a dozen federal agents, led by my father’s former colleagues, marched down the center aisle. Their badges gleamed under the stained glass windows.
“Adrian Vale,” the lead agent barked, cutting through the murmurs of the horrified crowd. “You are under arrest for the attempted murder of your wife, Elena Mercer.”
Adrian panicked. The suave, composed businessman vanished, replaced by a cornered animal. He looked wildly around the church, realizing every exit was blocked.
“It’s AI! It’s a fake recording!” Adrian screamed, spit flying from his lips. He pointed a shaking finger at me. “She’s crazy! I told you all she was insane! She set this up!”
I reached into my blazer, pulling out a thick stack of documents. I threw them into the air. Dozens of papers rained down over my coffin and onto the marble floor.
“Those are the offshore accounts, Adrian,” I said coldly. “The ones where you hid fifty million dollars of your investors' money. The police have the digital copies. The IRS has the rest.”
The investors in the crowd began to shout in outrage. The murmurs turned into a roar.
Two agents reached the altar. They grabbed Adrian by the shoulders, slamming him face-first against the polished wood of my empty coffin. The sound of metal handcuffs clicking into place was the sweetest music I had ever heard.
Adrian thrashed against the wood, screaming obscenities, cursing my name, cursing my father. But the cameras weren't capturing perfect tears anymore. They were capturing the ugly, pathetic reality of a monster being exposed to the light.
Another agent caught Celeste near the side exit, cuffing her as she bawled, instantly offering to testify against Adrian in exchange for immunity.
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By the time the police dragged him down the aisle, his reputation was ashes. His fortune was seized. His freedom was gone forever.
I watched him go, feeling the last heavy chains of his control break and fall away.
