Chapter 4: The Fall of the House of Sterling
"Turn that off!" Victoria shrieked, covering her face as the camera flashes blinded her. "That's fake! It's AI generated! It's a setup!"
But Maya wasn't finished. "Furthermore," Maya said, commanding the room's attention once again. "During our investigation into Mrs. Sterling's illegal hacking, my legal team uncovered something else. Financial discrepancies."
The screens shifted to display highly complex, but clearly highlighted, financial ledgers.
"It seems that Victoria Sterling’s husband’s company wasn’t just failing because they lost our merger," Maya explained calmly. "They were failing because Victoria has been embezzling millions of dollars from her own husband’s investors to fund her lavish lifestyle and offshore accounts. We have already handed this evidence over to the SEC and the FBI."
Right on cue, the heavy oak doors of the ballroom swung open. Two federal agents walked in, their badges flashing under the chandelier lights.
Victoria’s husband, who had been standing next to her, stared at the screens in absolute horror. "You... you stole from my investors? From me?" he whispered.
"Don't be an idiot, Charles, do something!" Victoria screamed, but Charles backed away from her, a look of profound disgust on his face.
The agents approached Victoria. "Victoria Sterling, you are under arrest for corporate fraud, embezzlement, and conspiracy to commit wiretapping. You have the right to remain silent."
"You can't do this to me!" she thrashed as they placed the cold steel handcuffs on her wrists—the exact same wrists that had been adorned with diamonds the night she slapped Maya. "Do you know who I am?! I am Victoria Sterling!"
Maya stepped down from the podium and walked slowly through the parted crowd, stopping just inches from Victoria. She looked at the frantic, disheveled woman, then down at the cuffs.
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"You're not allowed to touch me, remember?" Maya whispered softly, repeating the very words she had spoken on that fateful night.
Victoria let out a cry of frustration as the agents marched her out of the ballroom, her public destruction broadcast live to millions of viewers. The silence that followed was heavy, until Richard Harrington began to clap. Slowly, the rest of the room joined in, until the ballroom was filled with a roaring standing ovation.
