Chapter 3 - The Audit of the EmpireBy 8:00 AM the following morning, the fifty-story glass tower of Romano Global Enterprises in downtown Manhattan was surrounded by Federal Marshals and private forensic investigators from Vance Security.
Selena Vale stood in her luxurious corner office on the forty-ninth floor, frantically packing designer leather bags, her face pale, sweating under her expensive makeup.
"Where do you think you're going, Miss Vale?" a deep, baritone voice echoed from the doorway.
Selena spun around.
Standing in the doorway was Victor Romano, flanked by two armed detectives from the NYPD Major Crimes Division and senior litigator Bridget Colton.
Victor wore a fresh dark suit, but his face was gaunt, hollowed out by twenty-four hours of unspeakable agony. His storm-gray eyes held a cold, apocalyptic fury that made Selena drop her designer bag onto the floor.
"Victor...!" Selena stammered, her voice pitching upward into a high, hysterical squeak. "Listen to me! It's a setup! Elena poisoned herself to frame me! She knew you were going to leave her!"
Bridget Colton stepped forward, opening a leather binder, tapping a tablet screen that projected real-time bank ledgers and security footage onto the wall monitor:
THE TOXIN PURCHASES: Certified dark-web transaction records showing Selena Vale purchasing four vials of purified digitalis cardiotoxin using an offshore account in the Cayman Islands.
THE PENTHOUSE ACCESS: High-definition security footage showing Selena entering the Romano penthouse while Elena was at her charity meetings, tampering with her daily vitamin jars.
THE AUDIO LOGS: Clear satellite recordings from Victor’s phone at 7:45 PM, capturing Selena smiling into the receiver and telling the dying Elena: "He doesn't want to talk to you."
Selena's jaw sagged open. Her knees visibly buckled against the carpet.
"Furthermore," Bridget Colton announced, her clear voice ringing through the quiet office, "under the terms of the Romano Marital Contract, Mrs. Elena Romano has executed her private audit rights. As of seven o'clock this morning, fifty-one percent of all voting shares in Romano Global Enterprises have been transferred into an irrevocable trust managed solely by Mrs. Romano."
Selena stared at Victor in absolute, horrified disbelief. "You... you gave her the company?!"
"I didn't give her the company, Selena," Victor replied flatly, his voice devoid of any emotion. "She built this company beside me. And unlike you, she never lied."
Lead Detective Marcus Vance stepped forward, holding heavy steel handcuffs.
"Selena Vale," Detective Vance declared. "You are under arrest for Attempted First-Degree Murder, Systemic Poisoning, and Corporate Extortion."
CLICK. CLICK.
May you like
The cold steel cuffs locked tightly around Selena's wrists behind her back.
She thrashed and shrieked hysterically as federal marshals dragged her out of the executive suite, through the trading floor, and down to the police cruisers waiting below in total, public disgrace.
Related Stories
