"Five years after my ex told me leaving me was his smartest decision, my four-year-old yelled “Mommy!”—and when my husband walked over, my ex went pale. / Chapter 6 / 10

Chapter 6 - The Trap CollapsesBy 2:00 PM, my corporate conference room had transformed into a war room.

Gabriel Vance—one of the top white-collar defense and corporate litigation attorneys in the state—sat at the head of the table, flanked by three associates. Owen sat beside me, his hand resting over mine beneath the table, providing a quiet, unshakable anchor. Across from us sat Vanessa and her family's primary estate attorney, a stern, silver-haired man named Arthur Pendelton.

Stacks of financial documents, bank transfers, and forged loan guarantees covered the long glass table.

"It's a textbook paper trail," Gabriel announced, tapping a red pen against a timeline chart his team had drafted. "Mr. Halston used Mrs. Bennett's historical credit profile to secure three separate private loans over a four-year period, totaling roughly 4.2 million dollars. He used shell accounts registered in the Bahamas to funnel the capital back into Halston Logistics to cover his operational losses."

Arthur Pendelton shook his head in disgust. "My client, Mr. Crowley, had no idea the guarantor signatures were forged. Drew presented them as notarized corporate resolutions."

"Who was his notary?" I asked, looking up from a bank statement.

Gabriel pulled a document from a manila folder. "A woman named Sarah Jenkins. An administrative assistant at Halston Logistics who was abruptly fired two weeks ago."

"She was fired?" Vanessa asked, raising her eyebrows.

"According to our investigators," Owen chimed in, "Ms. Jenkins refused to sign off on a new three-million-dollar credit line last month. Drew threatened her, she threatened to go to the District Attorney, and he terminated her employment on the spot."

I looked at Gabriel. "Do we know where Sarah Jenkins is right now?"

"She's currently sitting in the State Attorney General's office in Atlanta," Gabriel replied with a thin, predatory smile. "She reached out to our firm an hour ago after reading the news about the Port Authority's freeze on Halston's permits. She's ready to turn over state's evidence in exchange for immunity."

A heavy silence settled over the room.

"What happens now?" Vanessa asked softly.

"Now," Gabriel said, snapping his briefcase shut with a sharp click, "we execute a civil asset freezing order while the federal prosecutor issues an arrest warrant for grand larceny, identity theft, and corporate fraud. Mr. Halston won't even have time to pack a suitcase."

Just then, my assistant knocked on the conference room door, leaning in with a pale face. "Maren? Drew Halston is downstairs in the building lobby. He's furious, demanding to come up, and security is holding him at the elevators."

Owen stood up smoothly, adjusting his suit jacket. "Tell security to let him up."