Chapter 4 - The Arrest Warrant
Before Vance could lunge across the table, federal marshals stepped out from the side doors of the boardroom, their heavy boots echoing on the marble floor.
"Vittorio Moretti, Lucas Bianchi," the lead marshal commanded, pulling out a pair of steel handcuffs. "You are under arrest for corporate fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit murder. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."
"Get your hands off me!" Vance bellowed, thrashing violently as the marshals clamped the cuffs over his tailored wool jacket wrists. "Do you know who I am?! I built this city! I own the judges in this province!"
"Not anymore, you don't," Prosecutor Matteo Rossi stated flatly, snapping the second pair of cuffs onto Lucas, who had dissolved into a pathetic, weeping mess on the carpet. "Your assets have been frozen by federal order. Your passports are revoked. Take them away."
As the marshals dragged Vittorio and Lucas toward the double doors, Vance twisted his head around, fixing me with a look of pure, venomous hatred.
"You think you’ve won, Elena?!" he screamed down the hallway. "The moment the board realizes what your little audit does to our stock prices, they’ll tear you apart! You’ll be ruined!"
The heavy oak doors clicked shut, plunging the boardroom into a profound, echoing silence.
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I exhaled a long, shaky breath, the tension that had gripped my shoulders for weeks finally releasing its hold. I looked around the table at the remaining board members, who were staring at me with a terrifying mixture of awe and absolute terror.
"Now," I said, smoothing down the front of my dress and sitting back down. "Let's get back to business."
