Chapter 5 - The Web Unravels
By sunrise, the grand Corbin estate looked less like a home and more like a crime scene. Local police cruisers lined the cobblestone driveway, their red and blue emergency lights flashing against the pristine white columns of the porch. Gertrude sat in the formal receiving parlor, weeping hysterically into a lace handkerchief while female officers calmly reviewed financial documents recovered from her personal laptop.
Evelyn, their mother, sat frozen in an armchair, staring blankly at the floor. When the truth about Douglas’s embezzlement and his attempt to slowly poison Garrett came to light—fully documented by the forensic accountants Garrett had quietly mobilized—Evelyn didn't defend her younger son. She simply closed her eyes, the bitter realization dawning on her that her ambition had sheltered a monster while nearly destroying her eldest son.
Upstairs in the master suite, I stood by the window, watching the police lead Douglas out in handcuffs. He kept his head down, shielding his face from the morning press corps that had already gathered at the wrought-iron gates.
Garrett rolled his wheelchair over to the window, though he didn't sit down the entire way; he leaned against the mahogany sill, his legs steadily supporting him for several minutes at a time.
"They're taking him to county lockup," Garrett said quietly, his voice carrying a heavy, sorrowful fatigue. "No bail. The embezzlement charges alone guarantee he won't see daylight for a decade. And once the forensic toxicologist finishes analyzing the residue in my nightly water glass, the attempted murder charges will seal it."
I turned away from the window, offering him a small, reassuring smile. "You won, Garrett. Your company is safe, and your home is free of them."
"Not my home, Rebecca," Garrett corrected gently, turning his slate-gray eyes toward me. "Our home. If it weren't for you, I’d still be trapped in that chair, slowly dying under my own roof while my family looted everything I built."
He reached out, his hand steady and warm, and gently took mine. My fingers were still slightly rough from years of hard work, from scrubbing floors, from caring for my stroke-ridden father, from surviving a loveless marriage where I was treated like a domestic appliance. But as Garrett looked at me, I didn't feel invisible anymore.
"What happens now?" I asked softly.
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"Now," Garrett said with a faint, genuine smile, "we rebuild. Apex Global needs a new board of directors, and I need a Chief of Operations who isn't afraid to stand up to corporate crooks. Unless, of course, my favorite nurse prefers to keep managing my physical therapy."
I laughed, the tension of the past terrifying week finally melting away. "I think I'm qualified for both."
