Chapter 7 - The Tables Turn at the Altar
The giant screens shifted from the video footage to a detailed financial ledger. The bold red numbers displayed the two hundred and fifty thousand dollar wire transfer executed the previous night from my corporate account into Sutton’s private offshore holdings.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Vesper’s clear, commanding voice rang out across the silent garden. “You are witnessing the exposure of a systemic corporate fraud and embezzlement scheme orchestrated by Stellin and Althia Valerio, utilizing forged powers of attorney to loot the business accounts of Dr. Fallon Rostova—a brilliant aviation safety scientist whose career they actively attempted to destroy.”
State financial investigators stepped forward, pulling out matching pairs of silver handcuffs.
“Stellin Valerio and Althia Valerio, you are under arrest for grand larceny, wire fraud, identity theft, and corporate embezzlement,” the lead investigator stated calmly, his voice echoing off the stone walls of the resort.
Sutton stared in absolute horror as the cold metal cuffs clicked around her mother’s wrists. She grabbed her father’s arm, her voice cracking with hysteria. “Daddy, do something! Tell them we didn't do anything! Stop them!”
Stellin couldn't look her in the eye. His head hung low as the officers led him and Althia toward the waiting police cruisers parked at the front gates.
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Sutton turned her fury toward me, her face contorted with rage. She lunged forward, her fingernails clawing through the air, screaming obscenities. “You ruined everything! I hate you! I hope you rot!”
Two security guards stepped smoothly between us, gently pushing her back. Standing amidst the ruins of her million-dollar wedding, surrounded by three hundred shocked guests and flashing police lights, Sutton collapsed onto the marble steps, weeping hysterically not for her family, but for her ruined social standing.
