Chapter 7 - The Evidence on the Bed
After Victor demanded to know what Claire had done, she showed him the photograph from the airport.
His confidence cracked.
“You were watching me?”
“I was documenting you.”
“That’s illegal.”
“No, Victor. Forging signatures is illegal. Stealing company funds is illegal. Taking loans against property you don’t own is illegal.”
Victor looked toward the hallway, where lights moved across the walls.
“You don’t understand what you’re doing. If I go down, the company goes down with me.”
“The board removed you twenty minutes ago.”
He stared at her.
“That company is mine.”
“It was built with my father’s money, my financial plans and the labor of people you were willing to sacrifice.”
Victor grabbed his phone and attempted another call.
Claire remained seated.
“The employees will be paid. The stolen funds have been recovered. The fraudulent loans have been suspended.”
“How?”
“I asked for help.”
He laughed bitterly.
“Who would help you?”
Naomi stepped into the hallway.
“I would.”
Ethan appeared behind her, holding a sealed evidence box.
Then Detective Shaw entered with two investigators.
Victor’s shoulders dropped.
Detective Shaw explained that he was being taken for questioning regarding fraud, forgery, identity theft, money laundering and attempted flight.
Victor turned to Claire.
“Tell them this is a misunderstanding.”
Claire remembered every dinner where he had mocked her. Every document he had forged. Every employee he had placed at risk.
“No,” she said. “For the first time, everyone understands perfectly.”
As the investigators escorted him from the room, Victor looked back at the suitcase.
May you like
It remained open on the floor.
Everything he had planned to take was still inside.
