Chapter 4 - The House of CardsBy noon, the living room of my estate looked like a war room.
Marcus Vance sat at the mahogany dining table surrounded by legal briefs, financial ledgers, and hard drives. Across from him sat two detectives from the Phoenix Police Department’s financial crimes division.
And standing near the grand staircase, looking breathtakingly calm in a tailored white dress, was Rebecca.
She thought she had won. She believed her network of corporate shells was impenetrable.
"I hope you brought the deed transfer papers, Alex," Rebecca said, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness as she walked toward us, pouring herself a glass of water. "Because throwing a tantrum and digging up old ghost stories isn't going to change the fact that you legally promised me this estate."
"I promised you nothing, Rebecca," I said, walking out from the study with a thick digital tablet in my hand. "In fact, I think you'll find that your contract is null and void under Section 4 of the federal fraud statutes."
Rebecca laughed, a crisp, dismissive sound. "You're delusional. You have no proof of anything."
"Really?" Marcus tapped a key on his laptop, and the large wall-mounted smart TV flickered to life.
On the screen appeared a high-resolution financial flowchart. It tracked money moving from my corporate accounts, through personal loans she had manipulated me into making, straight into an overseas offshore account registered under Aegis Holdings.
Then, the screen shifted.
It displayed bank transfer receipts, forged signatures, and audio recordings.
Audio began to play through the mansion's speakers.
“She’s getting too suspicious,” Rebecca’s voice echoed clearly through the room, recorded just two nights prior during a phone call she thought was private. “Just increase the dosage in her water. Make it look like natural exhaustion. Once the housekeeper is out of the way, Alex will sign the house over to me out of grief and stress, just like the others.”
The color drained from Rebecca’s face completely. The mask shattered into a million irreparable pieces.
"Where... how did you get that?" she stammered, taking a step back.
"Ruth's phone was tapped legally under a federal warrant after we established probable cause for attempted poisoning," one of the detectives stepped forward, pulling a pair of cold, steel handcuffs from his belt. "Rebecca Alcott, also known as Rebecca Taylor, you are under arrest for wire fraud, identity theft, extortion, and attempted poisoning."
"No!" Rebecca shrieked, her composure completely vanishing as she lunged toward the front door. "You can't do this! I'm your fiancée! This is a setup!"
Two officers intercepted her before she reached the threshold, spinning her around and pressing her arms behind her back. The metallic click of the handcuffs sounded like a gunshot in the grand hallway.
As they led her toward the open front doors, past the very spot where Claire had collapsed just days earlier, Rebecca twisted her head back, her eyes burning with pure, unadulterated venom.
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"You think you've won, Alex!" she screamed as they forced her into the back of the cruiser. "You're still just a lonely man who works too much! You'll always be alone!"
Then the cruiser doors slammed shut, and she was gone.
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