I Had No Idea Why She Framed Me… Until the Truth Was Revealed and Left Her Speechlesss

The hospital wing was locked down by a small army of federal marshals and Vance security guards.

Arthur Sinclair sat upright in a sterile hospital bed, dressed in a surgical gown. He looked entirely too comfortable for a man who had been in federal lockup just hours prior.

Emily walked into the pre-op room, escorted by Daniel and Eleanor Vance. In her hand, she held a thick manila envelope containing the absolute surrender of her birthright.

"Let me see it," Arthur demanded, holding out a pale hand.

Emily slid the legal documents onto the rolling tray table. "My lawyers drew it up. The transfer of the sixty percent Sinclair stake is immediate upon your signature. Daniel has already authorized the jet on the tarmac to take you to Geneva the moment you are cleared for travel post-surgery."

Arthur read through the contract, his eyes gleaming with greedy satisfaction. He picked up a pen and signed his name with a vicious flourish.

"A pleasure doing business with you, Emily," Arthur mocked, handing the contract back to her. "You are poor again. Just a maid playing dress-up. But you get to keep the brat."

"You are a monster," Emily whispered, clutching the paperwork.

"I am a survivor," Arthur corrected, lying back against the pillows as the anesthesiologist entered the room. "Now, put me under. I have an empire to rebuild."

As the doctors began administering the sedative into Arthur’s IV, Daniel wrapped his arm around Emily, pulling her out of the room. They walked to the surgical observation deck, looking down through the glass at the operating room below.

In the adjacent theater, tiny, fragile Leo was already prepped.

Emily pressed her hands to the glass, praying silently. She didn't care about the billions of dollars. She didn't care about the ships or the mansions. All she wanted was to hear her brother's laugh again.

Eleanor Vance stood beside them, leaning heavily on her diamond cane. A strange, knowing smirk played on the old woman's lips.

"You did the right thing, Emily," Eleanor said quietly. "You showed the mercy that your father never possessed."

"I gave a cartel sympathizer his empire back," Emily said, wiping her eyes. "He's going to use that money to hurt more people."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about Arthur's financial future," Eleanor chuckled dryly.

Daniel looked at his grandmother, his brow furrowing. "What did you do, Grandmother?"

Eleanor pulled a sleek black smartphone from her designer purse. "While you two were busy playing the noble heroes, I was busy playing the corporate shark. Arthur signed the transfer, yes. But he failed to read the fine print I had my personal lawyers insert on page forty-seven."

Emily gasped, turning to Eleanor. "What fine print?"

"The morality clause," Eleanor smiled fiercely. "The contract explicitly states that the transfer of shares is immediately null and void if the receiving party is currently under federal indictment for acts of domestic terrorism. Which, thanks to his little stunt at the Rossi compound, he most certainly is."

Daniel let out a sharp bark of laughter in pure disbelief. "You voided his own contract before he even signed it?"

"By the time Arthur wakes up in recovery, his plane to Geneva will be canceled, his pardon will be miraculously 'lost in the bureaucracy,' and his shares will default right back to Emily," Eleanor said, tapping her cane on the floor. "He is giving his heart to save that boy, and he is going back to his concrete cell with absolutely nothing."