Chapter 6 - The Unraveling
At six o'clock on Friday morning, Sophia Reynolds was awakened by the sound of her heavy oak door being breached by a federal battering ram.
Before she could scream, six FBI agents in tactical gear entered her luxury apartment—the very apartment she had leased using funds funneled from Marcus’s shell company.
"Sophia Reynolds! Federal agents! Put your hands where we can see them!"
Dressed in silk pajamas, Sophia fell to her knees on the rug, sobbing hysterically as handcuffs clicked around her wrists. "There's a mistake! I didn't do anything! Vincent Moretti bought this place! He loves me!"
"Save it for the magistrate, Ms. Reynolds," an agent said coldly, bagging her phone, her laptop, and a safe full of bearer bonds. "You are being charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and interstate corporate extortion."
Two hours later, Marcus Moretti was arrested on the tarmac of King County International Airport as he attempted to board a private jet chartered for Zurich.
Vincent watched the live television broadcast from the back of his town car outside my law office. The news anchor’s voice rang through the speakers: BREAKING NEWS: Mass arrests in Moretti Holdings corporate sabotage scandal. Former executive Marcus Moretti and socialite Sophia Reynolds taken into federal custody following a whistle-blower report filed by CEO Vincent Moretti.
Vincent turned off the screen. None of it mattered. He didn't care about Marcus spending ten years in a federal penitentiary. He didn't care that Sophia’s reputation was permanently incinerated across every newspaper in North America.
He only cared about the woman who was currently walking out of the glass doors of 1201 Third Avenue.
I was holding a cup of black coffee, wearing a tailored navy coat, discussing a licensing contract with Lauren. I looked relaxed. For the first time in three years, the subtle stress lines around my eyes had faded. I had my company back. I had my independence.
Vincent stepped out of his car. He didn't approach me aggressively. He stopped ten feet away on the sidewalk, his hands out of his pockets, standing in the cold rain without an umbrella.
Lauren immediately stepped in front of me, her hand reaching into her coat for her phone. "Mr. Moretti, you are violating the separation agreement. Back away, or I'm calling the police."
"Let him speak, Lauren," I said quietly, touching her shoulder.
Lauren hesitated, then stepped aside, keeping her sharp eyes fixed on him.
Vincent looked at me. His hair was plastered to his forehead by the rain. Water dripped down his cheekbones, soaking into the collar of his suit. He looked broken, stripped of every ounce of arrogance that had once defined him.
"She was working for Marcus," Vincent said, his voice raw and shaking. "Sophia and Marcus set it all up. The anniversary dinner, the hotel card, the calls. It was a scheme to short the company and force you out."
I looked at him calmly, taking a sip of my warm coffee. "I know."
Vincent stopped breathing. "You... you knew?"
"I've known for forty-eight hours," I said. "My forensic team discovered Marcus’s short positions on Monday morning before I walked into the boardroom. That’s why I brought patent attorneys instead of just divorce lawyers."
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Vincent stared at me, dumbfounded. "Then why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you let me fight them with you?"
"Because it doesn't change anything, Vincent," I answered softly, each word landing like a lead weight between us. "Marcus and Sophia set the trap. But nobody forced you to walk into it."
