Chapter 20 - An Open Ending
I stared at the television screen, watching the flashing headlines. For a fraction of a second, the room felt as though it was spinning out of control—just like the moment Vanessa pushed me into the deep end of the pool.
Then, a slow, calm smile spread across my face.
Victoria noticed my expression and frowned, her triumphant smirk faltering slightly. “Why aren't you panicking? The company is gone. You own nothing.”
I reached into my pocket, pulled out my encrypted satellite phone, and tapped the speaker icon.
“Are you recording this, Arthur?” I asked into the phone.
From the phone’s speaker, Arthur Sterling’s voice came through clearly—crisp, panicked, and desperate from his federal holding cell. “Yes, Mrs. Calder. The entire conversation, including her confession to corporate racketeering and securities fraud, has been transmitted directly to the U.S. Attorney’s Organized Crime Strike Force.”
Victoria’s face drained of color in an instant. She lunged toward the coffee table to grab her encrypted laptop, but Graham moved like lightning, kicking the device across the room and pinning her hands behind her back with a pair of steel cuffs.
“You see, Victoria,” I said softly, walking over to the window and looking out at the sprawling city lights that stretched as far as the eye could see. “Greed makes people sloppy. You thought Arthur was your employee. But over the past forty-eight hours, Arthur decided he preferred a federal witness protection deal over spending the rest of his life in a supermax prison.”
Just then, the heavy double doors of the suite burst open, and a dozen federal marshals poured into the room, led by Detective Vance.
“Victoria Thorne,” Detective Vance announced, flashing a federal warrant in her face. “You are under arrest for conspiracy, extortion, and interstate financial fraud.”
As they led a handcuffed Victoria away, she glared back at me with unmitigated fury. “This isn't over, Eleanor! Someone else will come for you! You can't control everything forever!”
“Maybe not,” I whispered to the empty room as the elevator doors closed. “But I’m a very fast learner.”
May you like
I turned, looking at Julian and Graham standing beside me in the dim penthouse light. The storm outside had finally passed, leaving the city clean, crisp, and quiet beneath the breaking dawn.
We had survived the water. And the water was finally ours.
