Chapter 7 - The Downfall of a Ghost
"She's lying!" Colleen suddenly screamed, lunging forward with her fingernails curled, her emerald dress rustling violently. "She's insane! She’s an obsessed stalker! Security, get this crazy woman out of here! She’s ruining my son’s life!"
Before security could take a single step toward me, the grand rear doors opened once more.
Vanessa Vance walked into the room, flanked by two men in dark suits carrying federal credentials. She was still wearing her wedding dress, but her veil had been discarded, and her face was cold as stone.
"Mother Parker, sit down," Vanessa’s voice cut through the chapel like a scythe.
Arthur Vance stared at his daughter in shock. "Vanessa? What is going on here?"
"Dad," Vanessa said, walking down the aisle with her head held high. "The man you were about to hand four million dollars of our family trust to is a con artist. He didn't come from old money. He didn't survive a tragic family fire. He faked his own death three months ago, claimed two million dollars in life insurance through his mother, and left his real fiancé drowning in his fraudulent debts."
The chapel erupted into utter pandemonium. Guests were on their feet, shouting, recording videos on their smartphones, and gasping in disbelief.
Adrian turned around, desperate to find an exit behind the altar. "It wasn't me! I was kidnapped! I had amnesia! Mom, tell them! Tell them I didn't know what was happening!"
Colleen was on her knees near the podium, sobbing uncontrollably into her trembling hands. The proud, haughty woman who had sneered at me in the floral hallway had vanished, replaced by a pathetic criminal watching her empire of lies collapse in real time.
One of the men accompanying Vanessa stepped forward, flashing a gold badge bearing the seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"Adrian Parker," Special Agent Morrison announced, his voice booming over the din. "You are under arrest for federal insurance fraud, identity theft, interstate wire fraud, and falsification of official records. Colleen Parker, you are under arrest as an accessory to conspiracy to commit insurance fraud."
Adrian attempted to vault over the communion rail toward the vestry door.
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He didn't make it two feet.
Two uniformed state troopers materialized from the side sacristy, tackling him directly onto the floral runner. The altar flowers tipped over with a loud crash, spilling vases of cold water and white petals across his pristine charcoal tuxedo.
