Chapter 6 - The Final Recording
From my messenger bag, I pulled out a small, vintage cassette player. Arthur had always been old-fashioned, refusing digital voice memos when magnetic tape had served him reliably for decades.
I placed it in the center of the table and pressed play.
A brief hiss of tape static filled the air, followed by the familiar, calm, gravelly voice of Arthur Sterling.
*“Sienna, sweetheart... if you’re playing this tape, it means my heart finally gave out, and Victoria has already called her lawyers.”*
Victoria gasped, pressing her knuckles against her trembling mouth.
*“I’m sorry to leave this mess on your shoulders, Colonel,”* Arthur’s voice chuckled softly, filled with warmth and quiet pride. *“I know how busy you are keeping the world safe. But I couldn't leave this city without making sure the people who actually built this company were protected.”*
The tape clicked slightly as Arthur adjusted his microphone.
*“Victoria, if you're in the room listening to this... I loved you once. I truly did. But you let greed eat away whatever kindness you had in your heart. You turned Julian into a spoiled, reckless parasite who thinks other people exist solely to pay for his mistakes. And Richard... Richard was a thief the day he walked into my office, and I was a fool for not firing him seven years ago.”*
Victoria began to sob quietly, burying her face in her hands.
*“Everything I built belongs to Sienna,”* Arthur continued firmly. *“Not because she’s my favorite, but because she knows what it means to serve something bigger than herself. The commercial buildings, the Boston brownstone, the investment portfolios—they are all placed into an irrevocable blind trust, managed under military oversight, to ensure the worker pensions remain untouched forever.”*
Arthur paused, taking a slow, labored breath on the recording.
*“Take care of the Boston house, Sienna. Plant those hydrangeas your grandmother loved in the front courtyard. And remember... a real Sterling doesn't back down from a fight.”*
The tape ended with a soft click.
May you like
Silence descended upon the grand dining room once more. Outside, the sirens finally began to wane as the convoy of federal vehicles began its journey toward the detention center in New Haven.
***
