Chapter 8 - THE COUNTER-STRIKE
Arthur reached inside his leather coat, pulled out a sleek black hard drive, and tossed it onto the glass table. It landed with a sharp CLACK right in front of Julian Vance.
Julian’s smile faltered slightly. "What is this?"
"That contains twenty-four gigabytes of internal ledger data from the Pendelton Trust," Arthur said, his voice dropping into a low, terrifying rumble that carried through the glass walls into the open office. "Every shell account you created in Delaware between 2018 and 2024 to siphon six million dollars from my father's estate into your personal holding firm."
Julian’s face drained of color. He looked down at the black drive, then up at Arthur, his hands tightening around his pen.
"Where... where did you get this?" Julian whispered, his cool demeanor shattering instantly.
"My father knew what you were doing before he died, Julian," Arthur said, taking a step closer to the table. "He left me the master security keys. I didn't care about the money—I left it alone because I wanted peace. But you brought a violent abuser into my daughter’s nursery."
Arthur pointed a calloused finger directly at his mother’s face.
"At 10:00 AM, my personal attorney is filing a formal complaint with the State Bar Association regarding Julian’s conflict of interest," Arthur continued. "At 10:15 AM, the district attorney is receiving Clara’s medical records and the crime scene photos from the nursery. And at 10:30 AM, this drive goes to the IRS Criminal Investigation Division."
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Eleanor slammed her hands onto the table, rising to her feet, her composure completely disintegrating. "Arthur! You wouldn't dare destroy your father's legacy!"
"You destroyed it the moment you laid your hands on my wife," Arthur growled, stepping toe-to-toe with his mother. "Unfreeze my firm’s accounts by noon, or Julian goes to federal prison, and you go to court on felony assault charges."
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