Chapter 6 - The Arrest and the Audit
The cold metal click of the handcuffs snapping around Daniel's wrists broke the frozen silence of the apartment.
Daniel stumbled backward against the stack of cardboard boxes, his face twisted in utter disbelief and panic.
"You can't do this!" Daniel shouted, struggling against the man in the dark suit. "Do you know who I am? I run Vance Enterprises!"
"We know exactly who you are, Mr. Vance," the lead federal investigator replied calmly, flashing an official warrant. "And we know about the eighteen years of unauthorized corporate fund transfers funneled through private accounts to cover up family liabilities."
Olivia pressed her back against the peeling wallpaper, her eyes wide as she watched her oldest brother being led toward the door.
"He really did it," Olivia whispered, her voice trembling. "He used company money to pay Clara all this time."
"Not just company money," Clara Vance rasped from her rocking chair, watching the scene with unblinking, chilling composure. "Your grandmother built this entire empire on borrowed names and hidden identities. Daniel was just the fool who signed the checks when the wells started running dry."
I gripped the manila folder labeled REVELATION tightly against my chest, feeling the thick stack of papers inside.
"What happens to the twenty-eight million dollar estate now?" I asked the investigator, stepping forward.
The investigator paused at the doorway, looking back at us with a grim expression.
"The terms of the will stated that the inheritance is forfeited if the assigned tasks are compromised by criminal activity," the investigator said. "Or... it goes entirely to whichever heir uncovers the full truth within the thirty-day window."
With a final nod, the agents escorted Daniel out of the apartment, leaving the heavy front door wide open to the gloomy hallway.
Silence rushed back into the room, heavier and more suffocating than before.
Olivia slid down the wall until she hit the floor, burying her face in her hands.
"We're not even siblings," she sobbed quietly. "Everything we grew up believing—every holiday, every fight, every family dinner—was a carefully constructed lie."
"We can't fall apart now," I said, kneeling down beside her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Grandmother set this trap for a reason. She wanted us to find out who we really are."
I opened the manila folder and pulled out the first document: a certified hospital birth record dated twenty-four years ago, complete with footprints and matching medical seals.
Olivia wiped her tears and leaned in close to read the faded ink by the dim light of the television.
"Look at the mother's name on this file," Olivia gasped, pointing a shaking finger at the paper. "It's not our parents. It's..."
Before Olivia could finish her sentence, a sharp notification chime echoed from her phone resting on the floor.
May you like
She picked it up, glanced at the screen, and froze.
"It's an email from the lawyer," Olivia whispered, her face draining of all color. "The thirty-day deadline... grandmother just changed the rules."
