Chapter 3 — The Empire Begins to Collapse
Chapter 3 — The Empire Begins to Collapse
Phones vibrated across the ballroom.
One after another.
Stock alerts.
Breaking news.
Emergency board meetings.
Every financial network carried the same headline.
BLACKWOOD INDUSTRIES UNDER FEDERAL INVESTIGATION.
Company shares crashed.
Five percent.
Ten.
Twenty-five.
Forty.
Trading was suspended.
Damien's father nearly collapsed.
"This can't be happening."
"Oh..."
"It already has."
I handed a tablet to the chief investigator.
"Everything has been copied."
"Every account."
"Every offshore transfer."
"Every recording."
Federal agents entered through a secured service entrance.
Search warrants in hand.
One executive attempted to escape through the kitchen.
Another tried flushing documents.
Neither made it far.
Handcuffs clicked throughout the mansion.
The same guests who had laughed only minutes earlier now rushed to distance themselves from the family they had admired.
Influence disappeared faster than champagne bubbles.
Damien looked at me desperately.
"Please..."
"I'll apologize."
I shook my head.
May you like
"Apologies belong before consequences."
"Not after."
