Chapter 7 - The Arrest
Two days before my twenty-fifth birthday, the law arrived at the Vance estate with full force.
Multiple police cruisers, lights flashing, lined the winding driveway of the Lake Forest mansion. Neighbors leaned over their manicured hedges, holding up phones as officers surrounded the property.
Inside, Aunt Patricia and Madison were frantically packing suitcases in the master bedroom, trying to arrange a private flight to a non-extradition country.
“Hurry up, Madison!” Patricia yelled, stuffing jewelry boxes into a leather bag. “The lawyer said the arrest warrants have been signed!”
“I can’t find my passport!” Madison screamed back, tears of rage ruining her makeup. “This is all Emily’s fault! That weak, pathetic little rat! She should have died when she hit that marble floor!”
Suddenly, the front doors of the mansion were breached with a loud crash.
“Police! Search warrant! Stay where you are!”
Armed officers poured up the grand staircase—the very staircase where I had nearly lost my life. They kicked open the master bedroom doors.
“Patricia Vance! Madison Vance! Hands where we can see them!”
Madison shrieked in terror as two female officers forced her to the carpet, pinning her arms behind her back.
“Get your dirty hands off me!” Madison screamed, struggling against the handcuffs. “Do you know who I am? I am a Vance! You can’t touch me!”
“Madison Vance, you are under arrest for attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery, and conspiracy,” an officer read cold-bloodedly. “You have the right to remain silent...”
Aunt Patricia stood frozen near her bed, her hands trembling as Detective Vance stepped up to her and clicked metal cuffs around her wrists.
“What about my mother?” Madison sobbed from the floor, her face pressed against the rug. “She helped! She took the money!”
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“Your mother is already in a holding cell, Madison,” Vance said quietly. “Your entire family is going down.”
As Patricia and Madison were escorted down the grand oak staircase in handcuffs, local news crews caught every second on camera. The story of the wealthy Lake Forest socialites who spent fifteen years abusing their cousin for a thirty-million-dollar inheritance became national news overnight.
