Chapter 14 - Betrayal Among Thieves
Inside the federal penitentiary in upstate New York, Vivian and Paige were assigned to adjacent cells in the maximum-security wing. The luxurious silks and imported perfumes were gone, replaced by coarse grey cotton jumpsuits and the metallic clank of heavy iron cell doors.
During designated recreation hour in the concrete yard, Vivian confronted her younger daughter, her face twisted with bitter resentment.
"You sold me out, Paige!" Vivian hissed, grabbing her daughter's arm with claw-like fingers. "You confessed to the murder plot before the federal prosecutors even finished their opening statement! If you had kept your mouth shut, our legal team could have beaten the charges!"
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Paige shoved her mother away violently, tears of rage streaming down her face. "Beaten the charges?! Mom, are you insane?! We were playing against a ghost! Elias isn't some pathetic bookkeeper! He's the Ghost King! Did you see the federal marshals saluting him outside the courtroom? We tried to destroy his wife, and he dismantled our entire empire in twelve hours! We got off easy with thirty years!"
Vivian froze, her breath catching in her throat as the horrifying reality finally sank into her calcified heart. She had poked a sleeping dragon, believing it to be a worm, and now she would spend the rest of her natural life pondering the catastrophic price of arrogance.
