Chapter 14 - The Unraveling of the Web
The boardroom erupted into chaos as three directors stood up simultaneously, shouting demands at their personal corporate attorneys over their mobile phones.
Federal agents moved through the room, confiscating laptops, tablets, and encrypted hard drives from the executive desks.
Richard Sterling slumped back into his executive leather chair, staring blankly at the glass wall showing the city skyline far below.
The empire he had spent thirty years scheming to steal had collapsed in less than five minutes.
Olivia walked slowly down the side of the table until she stood directly beside James.
James did not look at her.
His good hand was clutching his injured arm, his head hanging low over his chest as the realization of his fate closed around him like an iron trap.
“You shouldn't have taken the money, James,” Olivia said quietly.
James lifted his head, his eyes hollow, broken, and filled with tears of self-pity.
“I had nowhere else to go, Olivia,” he whispered, his voice trembling.
“Before your mother approached me, I was drowning in debt from the gambling syndicates in Atlantic City.”
“She bought my debts.”
“She owned my life before I ever met you.”
“You had four years to tell me,” Olivia said, her eyes devoid of mercy.
“Four years of quiet dinners, four years of waking up beside me, four years to choose between a lie and the truth.”
“I was terrified of her!” James cried out, his voice attracting the attention of two nearby federal marshals.
“You don't know what Evelyn was capable of!”
“I know exactly what she was capable of,” Olivia replied coldly.
“She tried to have me burned alive in a ditch on Route 9.”
“And you were willing to watch it happen for forty million dollars.”
She stepped back as two marshals approached the chair, pulling James to his feet and securing his wrists behind his back.
“James Reed,” the lead marshal recited in a flat, mechanical monotone.
“You are under arrest for attempted murder, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, and federal wire fraud.”
As they dragged him toward the double doors of the boardroom, James looked back over his shoulder one last time.
“Olivia! Please!” he screamed, his voice breaking down the marble corridor.
“I loved you! In the beginning, I really did!”
Olivia didn't answer.
She turned her back on him, letting the heavy walnut doors swing shut, cutting off his cries forever.
She walked back to the head of the conference table where Richard Sterling still sat frozen in his chair.
She reached out, pulled the gold fountain pen from his pocket, and picked up the twenty-page corporate resolution.
With two swift strokes, she drew a heavy black X across the first page.
Beneath the cross, she signed her name in clear, bold script: OLIVIA STERLING-VANCE, PRIMARY TRUSTEE.
She tossed the pen onto the mahogany table and turned to the federal agent in charge.
“Take him into custody,” Olivia said, nodding toward her uncle Richard.
“And prepare an immediate transport to the federal detention center in Montreal.”
The agent nodded respectfully. “Right away, Ms. Sterling.”
Olivia walked toward the floor-to-ceiling glass wall, looking out over the city of Oakridge.
The morning paper had declared that Olivia Reed was dead.
And in a very real sense, the paper had been right.
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The naive suburban woman who lived in fear of disturbing the quiet peace of her kitchen was gone forever.
In her place stood someone forged in the fire of absolute betrayal.
