Chapter 9
The next morning, news of the grand ballroom scandal exploded across every major American media outlet.
Headlines splashed photos of Chloe in handcuffs alongside breaking reports of the forty-million-dollar fraud.
Wall Street reacted instantly; Montgomery Industries stock crashed by forty percent within two hours of market opening.
Inside his lavish penthouse in Greenwich, Connecticut, Senator Arthur Montgomery smashed his crystal glass against the wall.
"How did that old bastard Edward pull this off?!" Montgomery roared at his chief of staff.
"He had federal warrants signed before my legal team even woke up this morning!"
"Sir, the FBI is freezing all offshore accounts connected to the Apex Trust," his staffer reported nervously.
"And Julian Montgomery has just agreed to a full cooperation plea deal with the federal prosecutor."
Montgomery’s face turned a dangerous shade of dark purple as his chest heaved in fury.
"Julian turned state's evidence?!" Montgomery bellowed, slamming his fist onto his desk.
"That spineless coward is testifying against my daughter to save his own skin!"
He walked over to a heavy wall safe hidden behind an oil painting of the American Declaration of Independence.
He punched in an eight-digit security code, pulling out a black leather briefcase filled with encrypted drives.
"Get the helicopter ready on the helipad," Montgomery commanded his security director.
"We are flying to our compound in the Bahamas before the U.S. Marshals close the airspace."
"I'm afraid that flight has been canceled, Senator," a deep, cold voice echoed from the doorway.
May you like
Montgomery spun around, his hand reaching into his jacket holster as his heart hammered against his ribs.
Standing in his doorway was Edward Sterling, accompanied by six armed federal marshals.
