My Arrogant Son-In-Law Dumped My Injured Daughter at a Freezing Bus Terminal on Thanksgiving So His Mistress Could Take Her Seat at Dinner—He Didn’t Know I Was the Lead Federal Prosecutor Who Put His Boss’s Friends in Prison

"I had nothing to do with this!"

The scream came from Veronica Vance. She lunged forward, pushing Marcus away from her as though he were covered in plague. She threw her hands up toward Lieutenant Miller, her eyes wild with terror.

"Veronica, shut up!" Marcus hissed, turning on her.

"No, you shut up, Marcus!" Veronica shrieked, backing toward the front door. "Officers, I arrived here at 6:00 AM! Chloe was already gone! Marcus told me she had agreed to a civil separation! I didn't touch her! I didn't see anything!"

"Is that why you’re wearing my daughter’s heirloom diamond pendant around your neck, Ms. Vance?" I asked, stepping into her path.

Veronica froze, her hand instinctively flying to her throat.

"That pendant was designed by Chloe’s grandfather in 1954," I said with lethal precision. "It is registered in the national jewelry provenance registry under Chloe Vance’s name. You are currently in physical possession of stolen property valued in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars, obtained during the commission of a violent home invasion felony."

Veronica frantically unclasped the necklace with trembling fingers and tried to thrust it toward me. "Take it! Take it! I didn't know it was hers! Marcus gave it to me this morning! He told me it was an early Christmas present!"

"Keep your hands where we can see them, Ms. Vance," Special Agent Harris of the IRS barked, stepping forward with a pair of steel handcuffs. "You are also named as a primary conspirator in Federal Indictment 24-CR-889 for corporate wire fraud, identity theft, and tax evasion through Aegis Holdings."

"What?" Veronica gasped, her knees shaking beneath her designer scarlet gown. "No! I was just his legal consultant! Marcus set up the Cayman accounts! He signed the transfer authorizations using Chloe’s forged engineering stamp!"

"You cowardly traitor!" Sylvia screamed from the floor, pointing a trembling, manicured finger at Veronica. "You begged Marcus to get rid of Chloe! You told him Arthur Sterling would never promote a man with a plain, middle-class wife! You orchestrated the entire thing!"

"And you held Chloe’s arms behind her back while Marcus kicked her ribs, Sylvia!" Veronica shouted back, completely unraveling. "I heard you bragging about it while we were putting the turkey in the oven!"

"Enough," Frank Miller commanded. "Cuff them all."

Arthur Sterling stepped forward into the center of the foyer, his face dark with fury and absolute disgust. He looked at Marcus as though he were a roach crawling across a clean counter.

"Marcus Bradley," Sterling said, his voice ringing with cold corporate finality. "As of this exact second, your employment with Vanguard Meridian Capital is terminated for gross criminal misconduct. Every stock option, severance package, and executive privilege you hold is immediately revoked. Furthermore, the firm will be filing a full civil suit to recover every single dollar you stole from our municipal accounts."