Chapter 5 - Unraveling Christian's Web
By evening, the opulent halls of Rosewood Manor were entirely empty, save for my legal team and a team of forensic accountants I had flown in from Chicago.
I sat in the mahogany-paneled library of the estate, a glass of un-iced bourbon resting untouched on the desk before me. The laptop screen glowed in the dim light, displaying a tangled web of shell companies, offshore accounts, and forged identities that Christian Vance and Vanessa had spent years constructing.
Marcus walked into the room, tossing a thick manila folder onto the leather blotter.
"We've finished parsing Christian's laptop and phone records," Marcus said, pulling up a chair. "It's worse than we thought. Vanessa wasn't his first target. They pulled this exact same scam on a Silicon Valley CEO two years ago. That poor bastard lost thirty million and his company before he figured it out."
"Why didn't anyone catch it then?" I asked, my voice dangerously low.
"Because Christian is a financial ghost," Marcus explained. "He uses decentralized crypto mixers, offshore shell entities in Panama, and bought-off compliance officers. If Lily hadn't heard them talking in that guest room last week, and if you hadn't trusted your instincts today, they would have executed the final phase of the asset freeze next month—right after the marriage certificate was officially filed."
I rubbed my temples, feeling the dull throb of a migraine behind my eyes. I had built the most advanced cybersecurity firewalls in the world to protect Northstar Systems from state-sponsored hackers and corporate espionage. Yet, I had left the front door of my own heart completely unlocked for a con artist.
"What happens to Christian now?" I asked.
"Federal indictment. Wire fraud, conspiracy, racketeering. With the evidence we pulled from his servers today, he's looking at twenty years minimum, no parole," Marcus said, leaning back. "And Vanessa is cooperating with federal prosecutors already, trying to cut a plea deal to shave a few years off her sentence. She's throwing Christian under the bus as the mastermind."
"Let them tear each other apart," I said coldly. "Just make sure our legal team ensures restitution for every single victim they scammed before me."
"Done," Marcus nodded. He stood up, pausing at the door. "By the way, Ethan... what are you going to do about the wedding reception food? Catering already delivered enough filet mignon and lobster to feed a small army."
I looked out the tall French doors toward the manicured gardens where the tables still sat untouched under the warm evening lights.
May you like
"Call the local shelters in Manhattan and the Bronx," I instructed without hesitation. "Pack up every single tray of food, every cake, and every floral arrangement. Have our logistics team deliver it all tonight. Let homeless families and children have a feast they'll never forget."
Marcus smiled faintly. "Consider it done, boss."
