Chapter 5 - Ledger of Lies
""Detectives?"" Evelyn shrieked, breaking through the stunned crowd, her aristocratic composure completely shredded. ""What is the meaning of this insolence? We are the Sterlings! We have dined with the governor! Arrest this interloper!""
Detective Reynolds did not look impressed. He held out an official warrant signed by the chief magistrate. ""Mrs. Evelyn Sterling, Mr. Marcus Sterling. You are under investigation for corporate embezzlement, tax evasion, and physical assault causing bodily harm.""
Marcus looked frantically from the badge to Elena’s impassive face. ""Elena, let’s talk. This is a misunderstanding. We were passionate, things got out of hand at dinner! You know how my mother gets when she's stressed about the shipping accounts!""
""I know exactly how your mother gets,"" Elena replied evenly. ""She strikes those she assumes cannot strike back.""
Elena raised her right hand slightly. Her lead counsel stepped forward and laid an open leather binder onto the central banquet table. The crisp pages revealed high-resolution bank transfers showing Marcus had siphoned twenty-five million dollars from the joint development account into an offshore shell company bearing Chloe’s private alias.
Chloe gasped, instantly taking two steps back into the crowd. ""Marcus, you lied to me! You told me that was your personal inheritance!""
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""Shut up, Chloe!"" Marcus snarled, his face contorting into an ugly red sneer.
Elena stepped closer, her whispered words piercing directly into Marcus's ears. ""You should have let me leave quietly, Marcus. Now, every secret you buried will be read under oath.""
