Chapter 9 - The Fall of Richard Crowe
Victor didn't raise his voice; he didn't even look at Elena as she sobbed against the airport linoleum.
He walked up to Richard, towering over my trembling husband with the effortless authority of an absolute monarch.
"You stole from my tables, Richard," Victor said softly, the silence in the gate lounge becoming utterly deafening.
"And worse, you left your wife behind to take the blame for your pathetic greed."
"I... I can fix it, Mr. Romano!" Richard pleaded, falling to his knees on the carpet, tears finally streaming down his pale face.
"I have the offshore ledger keys on my phone! I can transfer everything back to your foundation right now!"
"Martha already transferred the ten million dollars back to my accounts at three o'clock this morning," Victor replied smoothly.
"You have zero dollars, zero clients, and your law license was suspended by the Illinois State Bar forty-five minutes ago."
The Cook County deputies stepped forward, pulling Richard’s arms behind his back with two loud, sharp clicks of stainless steel handcuffs.
"Richard Crowe, you are under arrest for grand larceny, wire fraud, identity theft, and corporate embezzlement," the lead deputy recited.
Passengers in the terminal pulled out their phones, recording every second of my husband’s public disgrace as he was dragged down the concourse.
He looked back at me over his shoulder, his eyes pleading for mercy from the quiet woman he had spent seven years diminishing.
May you like
I didn't utter a single word; I simply adjusted my coat and watched him disappear around the corner toward the police cruisers.
Elena was escorted away separately by Victor’s corporate attorneys to sign immediate annulment papers and asset forfeiture deeds.
