Chapter 7 - Unmasking the MonstersThe silence in the boardroom was absolute, broken only by the hum of the overhead projector.
Julian recovered his composure with terrifying speed, forcing a look of tragic concern onto his face as he stepped out from behind the podium.
"Arthur!" Julian exclaimed, reaching out a hand as if to steady me. "Thank God you're okay! Everyone, please remain calm. As I was just explaining, Arthur is currently suffering from a severe neurological delusion—"
"Touch me, Julian, and I will break your hand in front of every partner in this firm," I said, my voice dangerously calm.
Julian froze, his hand hovering in mid-air before slowly dropping back to his side.
Victoria stood up from her chair, her face contorted in a brilliant display of panicked affection. "Arthur, darling! Please, sit down! You're sick! You vanished last night with the babies—where are my children?!"
"They aren't your children, Victoria," I said, looking at her with absolute disgust. "And as of two hours ago, you no longer have legal access to them, this building, or my estate."
I turned to the chief legal counsel. "David, please look at the screen."
Frank Miller stepped forward, connecting his own encrypted drive into the boardroom's central media hub. Instantly, the forged corporate transfer document on the wall was replaced by a high-definition video feed.
Gasps erupted across the room.
The video displayed on the wall was the crystal-clear security camera footage taken from my home nursery less than eighteen hours ago.
The entire board watched in horrified silence as Victoria swirled her wine glass, struck Emily across the face, bound her bloodied wrists to the carved wooden headboard, and forcefully strapped my newborn twins to her chest while mocking her dying four-year-old child.
"My God..." one of the senior female partners gasped, covering her mouth in sheer horror.
Victoria's face drained of every ounce of color. She stumbled backward, clutching the edge of the table. "That... that's a fake! It's an AI manipulation! He created it to ruin me!"
"Is this AI manipulation as well, Victoria?" I asked calmly, tapping my phone screen.
The audio system in the boardroom crackled to life, playing a wiretapped phone call recorded at 11:30 PM the previous evening between Victoria and Julian:
Julian's voice: "Did the private transport crew secure the nanny?" Victoria's voice: "No! Arthur lost his mind and drove off with her and the kids! It doesn't matter, Julian. The tea was heavily dosed. By the time the police find him, he won't be coherent enough to give a statement. Just make sure the forty million is transferred to the Cayman account the second the board signs off tomorrow morning." Julian's voice: "Don't worry, my love. Once Arthur is in a state facility, we'll take the kids, claim the estate, and leave."
The recording ended.
The silence in the room was suffocating. Every single partner at the table stared at Julian and Victoria as if they were venomous snakes.
Julian's cool, arrogant demeanor shattered completely. He looked at the federal marshals standing at the door, his eyes darting frantically toward the secondary exit.
"Julian Vance, Victoria Cole," the lead Federal Marshal announced, stepping forward with two sets of chrome handcuffs. "You are under arrest for attempted murder, federal wire fraud, corporate embezzlement, grand larceny, and felony false imprisonment."
"Arthur! Please!" Victoria shrieked as a marshal grabbed her arms, pinning her against the glass table. "It was Julian! He forced me to do it! He threatened me! I love you, Arthur! Think of our family!"
"I am thinking of my family," I said, looking down at her with a coldness that made her stop screaming. "And you were never a part of it."
As the handcuffs clicked around Julian's wrists, he glared at me with pure venom. "You think you've won, Arthur? Those kids aren't yours! You're raising another man's bastards!"
I stepped right up to Julian, looking him straight in the eyes without a single flicker of hesitation or regret.
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"You gave them your blood, Julian," I whispered into his ear. "But I gave them a father. And while you rot in a federal penitentiary for the next thirty years... they will grow up calling me dad."
Julian's face twitched, his mouth opening, but no words came out. The marshals grabbed both of them by the shoulders and dragged them out of the boardroom, their frantic shouts echoing down the hallway until the heavy double doors clicked shut.
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