Chapter 6 - The Confession
Vincent collapsed to his knees right on the ballroom floor. A billionaire, a titan of industry, sobbing like a broken child in front of the world's most powerful financiers and fifty flashing camera lenses.
""No... no, God, no..."" he wailed, burying his face in his hands. ""My son... my little boy...""
""Get up, Vincent! You're humiliating us!"" Sophia hissed, grabbing his arm and trying to haul him to his feet. Her aristocratic veneer had completely shattered, replaced by the ugly, snarling desperation of a cornered predator. She glared at me with pure venom. ""You think you can just waltz back into New York and destroy our lives? Vincent is my fiancé! This gala is private! Security, throw this crazy woman out!""
Not a single security guard moved. Every guard in the building was now under contract with Bennett Global.
""They won't help you, Sophia,"" Arthur Bennett’s deep voice boomed across the silent room. He stepped forward, his cold eyes sweeping over the cowering woman. ""And neither will the federal courts.""
Arthur nodded to Daniel, who touched the screen of his tablet.
The giant monitors behind the stage suddenly switched. Instead of financial documents, an audio recording began to play through the ballroom's high-definition sound system.
A woman's voice, unmistakably Sophia’s, echoed through the hall:
—""Make sure the halon fire suppression canisters in the lower fuselage are drained before we leave Teterboro. The warning sensor needs to be disabled manually.""
A man’s voice, rough and nervous, replied: —""Miss Carter, that's insane. If there’s an engine blowout or an electrical arc, the cabin will be an incinerator in three minutes. Moretti’s wife is pregnant!""
Sophia’s cold laugh sent shivers down the spines of everyone listening: —""That's the entire point, idiot. She won't be able to run. Vincent will panic and carry me out. He's always been weak for me. Once she and that little bastard are gone, the Moretti trust reverts to his sole discretion, and Carter Logistics gets the bailout. Just drain the damn tanks.""
A collective gasp of sheer horror sucked the air out of the grand ballroom.
Vincent snapped his head up from the floor. The grief in his red, swollen eyes instantly hardened into something monstrous, something lethal. He turned slowly, looking at Sophia as if seeing the devil herself for the first time.
""You...?"" Vincent whispered, his voice trembling with an ungodly rage. ""The fire wasn't a mechanical failure?""
Sophia backed away, her hands shaking, her breath coming in ragged gasps. ""Vincent, wait! That recording is fake! It's an AI deepfake! She made it to divide us! You know how much I love you!""
""You tried to burn my wife alive?!"" Vincent roared, lunging to his feet with an animalistic fury that shocked the crowd. He grabbed Sophia by the shoulders, shaking her violently. ""You tried to murder my unborn child?! I abandoned Anna in that fire because I thought you were innocent! I left my family to die because of YOU?!""
""Vincent, let go of me!"" Sophia shrieked, clawing at his face, drawing thin lines of blood across his cheek. ""You wanted her gone too! You hated how she controlled you! You loved ME!""
""I despise you,"" Vincent snarled, throwing her away from him so hard that she crashed into the champagne tower.
Dozens of crystal glasses toppled over, shattering in a deafening cascade of sparkling wine and broken glass. Sophia landed in the puddle, screaming as the shards shredded her crimson designer dress and sliced into her arms.
Before Vincent could take another step toward her, the doors at the side of the ballroom opened. Six federal agents in dark trench coats, accompanied by detectives from the NYPD Major Crimes Division, marched onto the floor.
""Sophia Carter,"" the lead FBI agent announced, drawing a pair of steel handcuffs. ""You are under arrest for conspiracy to commit premeditated murder, federal aviation sabotage, and corporate wire fraud. Put your hands behind your back.""
As the cold steel snapped around Sophia’s wrists, she looked at Vincent, pleading, begging for mercy. But Vincent didn't even look at her. He turned his eyes back to me, his hands shaking, his expression a portrait of total, irrevocable devastation.
""Anna..."" he pleaded, falling toward me again. ""Anna, I didn't know! I swear before God, I didn't know she planned it! Please... forgive me...""
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I looked down at the man who had once been my entire universe, and I felt nothing but mild pity for how small he truly was.
""Ignorance isn't an excuse for cowardice, Vincent,"" I whispered. ""You still chose to save her. You still walked away while I screamed for our baby. And tomorrow morning, you will pay the rest of your debt.""
