Chapter 6 - The Traitor's Fall
For five seconds, no one moved.
The federal marshals stepped into the room, their hands resting on their sidearms. "Julian Sterling, step away from the table and place your hands behind your head!"
Julian looked at the marshals. He looked at Detective Chen. He looked at his mother, whose face was contorted in sheer horror.
Then, Julian’s eyes locked onto Emily.
With a feral, desperate roar, Julian grabbed the silver heavy candlestick off the side table and lunged directly at Emily. "If I'm going to prison, you're coming to the grave with me!"
"Julian, no!" Victoria shrieked.
Emily didn't freeze. Months of repressed rage and the memory of the terrifying darkness inside that coffin surged through her veins. As Julian lunged forward, she grabbed the heavy glass water pitcher sitting on her breakfast tray and swung it with all her strength.
CRASH!
The heavy glass shattered against the side of Julian’s head. Water, ice, and blood exploded into the air. Julian staggered sideways, groaning, dropping the candlestick as he crashed over a velvet armchair and hit the floor hard.
Before he could push himself back up, three federal marshals slammed him onto the carpet, forcing his arms behind his back and clicking heavy steel handcuffs around his wrists.
"Julian Sterling, you have the right to remain silent!" a marshal barked into his ear.
Dr. Harrison Cole tried to back out of the room through the terrace door, but Detective Chen caught him by the collar, shoving him against the wall and handcuffing him instantly. "Dr. Cole, you're under arrest as an accessory to attempted murder and falsifying official medical records."
Victoria Sterling stood frozen in the middle of the room, her hand clutching her pearls, her entire world crumbling around her in real-time.
"Detective!" Victoria stammered, her aristocratic composure completely shattered. "This... this is an outrage! My family built this town! You cannot arrest my son based on the word of an unstable woman!"
Detective Chen pulled a second warrant from her folder. "Victoria Sterling, you are being brought in for questioning regarding secondary asset conversion and obstruction of justice. Escort her downstairs, officers."
Two state troopers grabbed Victoria by her elbows. She shrieked in outrage as she was led out of the mansion, her silk dress rustling against the tactical gear of the police officers.
Julian was pulled to his feet. Blood trickled down his cheek from the glass cut, mixing with his sweat. He glared at Emily, his eyes filled with a desperate, toxic venom.
"You think you won, Emily?" Julian hissed, his teeth stained red. "You think you can run Sterling-Vance alone? The company will collapse without me! The stock will hit zero by tomorrow morning!"
Emily walked slowly up to him. She did not flinch. She picked up a white linen napkin from the tray, wiped a drop of blue ink from her fingers, and looked her husband dead in the eye.
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"My father built this company, Julian," Emily said softly, her voice filled with absolute, unyielding authority. "You were just a parasite who mistook himself for the host. Enjoy the rest of your life in a concrete box."
Detective Chen yanked Julian forward, marching him out of the room and down the grand staircase, where dozens of press cameras—tipped off by Chen’s team—were waiting outside the front gates to capture the disgraced billionaire being hauled away in steel cuffs.
