Chapter 16 - THE HANDCUFFS AT WALL STREET
The silence inside the boardroom was absolute, save for the heavy, rhythmic footsteps of the federal agents stepping across the polished floor.
Sophia did not scream or throw another scene. The cold, calculating mask returned to her face as the lead agent stepped behind her and pulled her arms behind her back.
CLICK. CLICK.
The steel handcuffs closed around her wrists.
"Sophia Vance, you have the right to remain silent," the agent recited calmly. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."
She turned her head slowly, looking past the prosecutors and the silent board members, fixing her eyes on Ethan. He was slumped against his executive chair, his head buried in his hands, his shoulders shaking with quiet, suffocating humiliation.
"Look at me, Ethan," Sophia whispered, her voice smooth, low, and terrifyingly calm.
Ethan slowly raised his head, his face pale and eyes red.
"You really thought someone like me could actually love someone like you?" Sophia said, a faint, mocking smile touching the corner of her lips. "You were nothing more than a pen I used to sign your father's money away."
"Take her out," Marcus Vance ordered sharply.
As the agents escorted Sophia through the double doors, the forty-fourth floor fell dead silent. The board members sat frozen, completely unsure of who held authority in the room.
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Richard stepped to the head of the table. He didn't look triumphant. He didn't look victorious. He looked like a father who had watched his own home burn down just to catch a thief.
"The merger with Vance-Gauthier is canceled," Richard announced to the board, his voice steady and unquestionable. "Marcus will initiate a full forensic audit of all corporate accounts immediately. Meeting adjourned."
