Chapter 13 - Madison Turns on Ethan and the Great Finger-Pointing
The federal detention center downtown was cold, sterile, and smelled faintly of industrial disinfectant and stale coffee. Sitting behind the reinforced glass partition in visiting booth four, Madison looked a million miles away from the glamorous, confident woman who had whispered *'Please don’t ruin your own birthday'* in the restaurant parking garage just weeks ago.
She wore an oversized orange jumpsuit, her hair unwashed, her face completely devoid of makeup. When I walked into the booth and sat down on the metal stool, Madison looked up, her eyes red-rimmed and hollow.
'You came,' she whispered through the static-filled intercom speaker.
'I came to see how the other half lives, Madison,' I replied evenly, resting my elbows on the stainless-steel counter. 'Though I have to admit, orange really doesn't match your complexion.'
Madison flinched as if I had struck her. Tears welled up in her eyes, spilling over her cheeks with genuine, unscripted misery this time. 'Clara... you have to help me. Ethan lied to me! He manipulated me into everything!'
I raised an eyebrow, letting out a dry, humorless laugh. 'He manipulated you into spreading your legs in a parking garage and helping him embezzle thirty-eight thousand dollars of company funds?'
'It was his idea!' Madison sobbed, pounding her fist lightly against the glass partition. 'He told me you were emotionally cold, that you never truly loved him, and that Morgan Events Group was rightfully his because he built the operational framework! He promised we would take our share and move to the south of France together!'
'And instead, you're looking at fifteen years in a federal penitentiary for grand larceny, forgery, and conspiracy,' I said, my voice cutting through her hysterics like a scalpel. 'Congratulations on the romantic getaway.'
Madison pressed her face against the glass, her voice dropping to a desperate, venomous hiss. 'I'll testify against him, Clara! I have the unencrypted text logs on my personal phone showing every single instruction Ethan gave me to forge the patent assignments and bribe the notary! I'll give it all to the prosecutor!'
'You don't need to offer, Madison,' I said, pulling a certified document from my briefcase and holding it up against the glass. 'Your defense attorney already filed your formal cooperation plea thirty minutes ago. You threw Ethan under the bus before he even had time to realize you were driving it.'
Madison blinked, her tears pausing as a flicker of desperate cunning crossed her face. 'Does that mean... does that mean the U.S. Attorney will drop my charges? Will I walk free?'
'Free? No,' I said coldly. 'You'll still be serving a reduced sentence for federal conspiracy. But at least you won't be cellmates with your beloved husband.'
Just then, a federal guard stepped into the visiting corridor, grabbing Madison’s shoulder to escort her back to her block. Madison thrashed slightly, screaming my name across the room, but I didn't turn around.
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As I walked out of the detention center into the bright afternoon sunlight, my phone buzzed in my pocket. It was an encrypted text message from an unknown number: *'The queen has cleared the board. Time to discuss the next move. Dinner tonight at 8:00 PM. — Julian.'*
I stared at the screen for three seconds, then typed a single, decisive reply: *'Send the address.'*
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