Chapter 6 - The Final AuditMidnight at the Sterling mansion was usually a quiet, peaceful affair. Tonight, it looked like a crime scene investigation unit headquarters.
Federal marshals and private forensic accountants moved methodically through the sprawling three-story estate, boxing up computers, shredding financial records, and seizing every hidden asset Olivia and Mason had accumulated over the past three years of their secret affair.
I stood in the master bedroom, looking out the massive floor-to-ceiling glass balcony doors where Olivia had handed me the poisoned cup of cinnamon coffee just a week ago.
The door behind me clicked open.
Harrison stepped into the room, holding a thick leather-bound dossier. "The federal prosecutor just called. Mason cracked under interrogation within twenty minutes. He signed a full confession implicating Olivia as the mastermind behind the entire scheme, including the payoffs to the corrupt coroner."
"And Olivia?" I asked without turning around, watching the distant headlights of police cruisers winding their way down the private driveway.
"She's in holding at the downtown precinct, refusing to speak without a public defender," Harrison sighed, walking over and placing the dossier on the mahogany desk. "Ethan... looking back at everything... how did you survive that dose? The toxicology report said it should have killed an elephant within ten minutes."
I turned slowly to face him, a faint, cold smile touching my lips.
"Years ago, before my father passed away and left me this empire, I spent three years working undercover in corporate security overseas in regions where poison was a standard negotiation tactic," I explained softly. "I built up a partial biochemical immunity to neurotoxins of that exact chemical family. My body locked up, yes—the paralysis was real. But my heart kept beating, and my mind stayed awake."
Harrison shook his head in sheer disbelief. "You played a very dangerous game, letting them push you all the way to the crematorium doors."
"If I had stopped them earlier, they would have claimed it was an accident, or a domestic dispute, and walked away with half my fortune in a standard divorce settlement," I said, my voice hardening. "I didn't just want to survive them, Harrison. I wanted them to step into the light of day, expose their entire souls to the world, and watch every single thing they stole turn to dust in their hands."
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"Well, mission accomplished," Harrison murmured, picking up his briefcase. "The board voted unanimously today to restore you as permanent CEO with absolute, unchallengeable voting majority. You own it all, Ethan. Every last brick."
"Good," I said, turning back to look out the balcony window at the dark, sprawling city below. "Because tomorrow, we start rebuilding."
