Chapter 14 - The Net Snaps Shut
Helena’s smirk wavered, an unexpected flicker of unease cutting through her haughty expression.
"What are you babbling about? The proxy was signed, witnessed, and filed with the county clerk this morning!" Helena retorted.
Victoria stepped down from the lectern, descending the stage steps until she stood three feet away from her cousin.
"Julian Cole is a registered convict under active federal supervision for grand corporate fraud," Victoria stated clearly.
"Every vehicle he enters, every phone call he receives, and every financial instrument he touches is monitored in real time."
Victoria raised her hand, gesturing toward the eighty-foot video wall behind the executive stage.
The financial charts vanished, replaced instantly by high-definition surveillance footage captured inside Helena's town car yesterday afternoon.
The audio recording played through the auditorium’s surround-sound speakers with crystal-clear fidelity.
"My father transferred forty percent of his private foreign reserves into my name before his indictment was unsealed," Helena’s recorded voice boomed through the hall.
"Sign this proxy, Julian, and I will hand you ten million dollars in bearer bonds and a one-way ticket to Buenos Aires."
Helena took an involuntary step backward, her face turning an unearthly shade of gray as the evidence played before two hundred journalists.
"That... that recording is illegal! It was captured without my consent!" Helena shrieked, clutching the lapels of her crimson coat.
"Under federal wiretap orders issued by Judge Harrison, parolees under court supervision have zero expectation of privacy, Helena," Marcus announced from the stage.
"You just confessed on camera to active witness tampering, obstruction of justice, and laundering the proceeds of Arthur Vance's criminal assets."
Two plainclothes FBI agents stepped from the back row of the auditorium, their gold badges gleaming against their dark blazers.
They moved down the aisle with brisk, unyielding authority, separating Helena from her private attorneys.
"Helena Vance, you have the right to remain silent," Special Agent Miller said, pulling Helena’s arms firmly behind her back.
"Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."
Helena thrashed against the handcuffs, her expensive jewelry rattling violently as she glared up at Victoria with rabid hatred.
"You planned this! You knew Julian would come to me!" Helena screamed, her hair falling into wild disarray across her forehead.
Victoria stood before her, majestic and untouchable, her voice dropping into a lethal, quiet whisper that only Helena could hear.
"I didn't need to plan your greed, Helena; I merely set the board and waited for you to make the exact move your father made."
"Arthur thought he could hide his blood money in your accounts."
"Now, every single penny of those offshore reserves will be seized by the United States Treasury to pay the Vance restitution fund."
The agents marched Helena down the center aisle, her desperate curses drowned out by the thunderous clicking of media cameras.
Victoria returned to the lectern, straightened her pearl-white blazer, and cleared her throat.
May you like
"Now, gentlemen and ladies of the board," Victoria said, her tone as calm as morning glass.
"Let us proceed with the unanimous ratification of our Pacific expansion."
