Chapter 9 - Healing and Justice
At the frozen, deserted pier, Victoria Vance stood under a flickering halogen light, wrapped in a mink coat, waiting impatiently beside a idling speedboat. Marcus stumbled out of the woods, blood frozen on his face, holding a encrypted flash drive.
"You idiot," Victoria spat, taking the drive. "You were supposed to make it look like an accident!"
"It doesn't matter!" Marcus wheezed. "The kid is alive, but I have the files. We leave now!"
Before they could turn toward the boat, blinding high-beams flooded the pier. Four black SUVs slammed into a perimeter block, trapping Victoria's escape route. Armed federal agents and NYPD officers poured out of the vehicles, weapons raised.
"Victoria Vance! Stand down!" an officer bellowed through a megaphone.
Arthur Vance stepped out of the lead vehicle, accompanied by the Federal District Attorney. "It's over, Victoria. Marcus’s phone was tapped the moment he entered my house. Every conversation you had with him tonight was recorded by federal investigators."
Victoria’s face drained of all color. She looked wildly around the pier, her composure completely shattering. Her gaze fell upon Lily, who stepped out from behind Arthur, standing tall and proud in her warm winter coat.
"You..." Victoria gasped, her voice trembling with rage and disbelief. "A filthy street orphan... ruined everything!"
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"No," Lily said, her voice clear and carrying over the sound of the crashing waves against the ice. "My name is Lily Miller. My father was David Miller. And you didn't just lose to a street orphan... you lost to the daughter of the man you tried to destroy."
Federal agents slammed handcuffs onto Victoria's wrists, dragging her and Marcus away into the waiting police vehicles, ending her reign of corruption forever.
