Chapter 9 - The Execution of Whitmore Capital
Forty-eight hours later.
The private conference room at Arthur Vance's law firm was bathed in afternoon sunlight.
Sabrina sat on one side of the mahogany table, accompanied by a court-appointed public defender she had been forced to retain after her personal credit cards were frozen. She still wore her designer sunglasses inside, trying desperately to project an aura of unbothered high-society disdain.
The door opened, and I walked in, followed by Arthur, Clara, and Garrick.
When Sabrina saw Garrick walking behind me, carrying a legal folder, her lip curled into a sneer. "Oh, look. The mama's boy came back to hide under his mother's skirt. Did she buy you a lollipop, Garrick?"
Garrick didn't flinch. He sat down at the table across from her, his posture straight, his eyes cold and clear.
"The annulment papers have been filed with the Travis County Family Court, Sabrina," Garrick said, setting a white legal document on the table. "On grounds of material fraud regarding your identity, criminal history, and false representation of assets."
Sabrina's sneer flickered. She snatched her sunglasses off, her sharp eyes darting toward her public defender. "What is he talking about?"
Arthur pulled out Frank's investigative folder and tossed it right in front of her.
"We know who you are, Ms. Kowalski," Arthur said smoothly. "We have your arrest records from Cleveland, your civil fraud judgments from Ohio, and a signed affidavit from Garrick detailing your direct instruction and execution of the illegal transfers from Elena Vance's accounts."
Sabrina stared at her mugshot from Cleveland sitting on the table. The color drained from her face, leaving her looking hollow, desperate, and small.
"Furthermore," Arthur continued, turning a page, "because Whitmore Capital LLC was funded entirely with stolen funds from an elder victim, the Travis County District Attorney’s Financial Crimes Division has opened a formal indictment file for money laundering and grand larceny. Unless you sign the asset surrender agreement relinquishing all claims to the escrow funds and bank accounts today, the DA will issue an arrest warrant before 5:00 PM."
Sabrina looked at her attorney, her voice rising in a sharp, panicked screech. "Do something! Tell them they can't do this! Garrick signed the wire transfers, not me!"
The public defender leaned over, reviewing the affidavit and the DA's preliminary indictment notice. He looked up at Sabrina, shaking his head grimly.
"Ms. Kowalski," the attorney said quietly. "If this goes to a criminal jury in Travis County, with a seventy-two-year-old retired lawyer representing a sixty-five-year-old widowed victim, you are looking at five to seven years in a state penitentiary. Sign the agreement."
Sabrina looked around the room. She looked at Arthur’s lethal smile, at Clara’s satisfied grin, at Garrick’s unyielding stare, and finally at me.
I sat at the head of the table, composed, quiet, and completely triumphant.
"You told me I looked like I belonged in a museum, Sabrina," I said softly, my voice cutting through her panic like a cold breeze. "You told me I was taking up space in my own house. But this museum was built on honest labor. And you are just trash that got blown in through the back door."
Sabrina’s hands shook violently as she picked up the pen. With tears of pure, bitter rage streaming down her face, she signed her real name—Sabrina Kowalski—on the asset surrender documents, giving up every claim to the two hundred and forty thousand dollars.
May you like
Arthur immediately snatched the signed papers, checking the signatures. "Pleasure doing business with you, Ms. Kowalski. You have two hours to clear your remaining personal belongings out of the Austin police impound lot before your car is seized for back taxes."
Sabrina slammed her pen onto the table, grabbed her jacket, and sprinted out of the conference room, her high heels clicking frantically down the hallway as her fake life collapsed into complete dust.
