Chapter 7 - Chaos at the Loop
The boardroom erupted into absolute madness.
Flashbulbs detonated like strobe lights. Reporters shouted questions over one another, while council members scrambled for the exits like rats fleeing a sinking vessel.
""She’s lying!"" Derek screamed, his voice cracking into high-pitched hysteria. ""She's unstable! She stole those files! Conti put her up to this!""
Derek lunged toward the podium, his face twisted with the manic, violent fury I had seen so many times behind closed doors. He raised a hand, fully intending to strike me down in front of thirty witnesses.
He never reached me.
Matteo stepped forward like lightning. With one brutal, economical strike to the chest, Matteo sent Derek flying backward across the polished hardwood floor, crashing into an expensive glass conference table that shattered under his weight.
Gasps echoed through the room. Derek lay groaning amid shards of tempered glass, blood pooling from shallow cuts on his tailored suit.
Matteo stood over him, looking down with cold, majestic disgust. ""Touch her again, Derek, and you won't survive long enough to face a grand jury.""
Sirens wailed in the distance below, rising up from Michigan Avenue. Red and blue emergency lights reflected against the towering glass windows.
""The FBI’s financial crimes division is downstairs,"" Matteo announced to the trembling room. ""Along with the Cook County State’s Attorney. I suggest you all clear the hallways.""
Derek scrambled to his hands and knees, glaring up at me with murderous venom. ""You think you won, Clara? You think you can walk away from me? My family owns this city! My lawyers will have these charges thrown out before sundown! And when I get out—""
""You won't get out,"" a deep voice boomed from the doorway.
Special Agent Miller of the FBI walked into the room, flanked by six armed federal agents in tactical vests. ""Derek Hale, you are under arrest for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, interstate racketeering, and felony unlawful restraint. You have the right to remain silent.""
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Two agents hauled Derek off the floor, twisting his arms behind his back and clicking heavy steel cuffs around his wrists. As they dragged him toward the private elevator, Derek looked back at me one last time.
For the first time in two years, I didn't flinch. I didn't look down at my shoes. I stood tall beside Matteo, watching my former tormentor being hauled away into a cage of his own making.
