Chapter 13 - The Trap Closes
The Cook County Department of Corrections holding facility on South California Avenue smelled of industrial disinfectant and despair.
Deep within the concrete subterranean complex, Victoria sat in an interview room wearing a drab orange jumpsuit that swallowed her petite frame.
Her platinum-blonde hair was limp and greasy, falling in messy strands across her forehead without the expensive styling products she relied upon.
Her manicured nails were chipped, and the arrogant smirk that had terrorized our household for two years had withered into a nervous, twitching scowl.
Across the stainless steel table sat Marcus Sterling, an elite criminal defense attorney whose retainers commanded a thousand dollars an hour.
Sterling pushed a thick stack of state charging documents across the cold metal surface, his expression utterly devoid of sympathy.
"This is bad, Victoria," Sterling said bluntly, leaning back in his chair with an exhausted sigh.
"Don't tell me it's bad, Marcus! Tell me how you're getting me out on bail!" Victoria hissed, her voice rasping from hours of manic screaming in her cell.
"There will be no bail," Sterling stated flatly, tapping the top page of the indictment.
"The State's Attorney has upgraded your charges to aggravated domestic battery, felony intimidation, and attempted grand larceny exceeding four million dollars."
"That video your stepdaughter took is forensic suicide for our defense," the attorney explained, his voice sharp and clinical.
"The footage is crystal clear; you held the girl by the throat, you ran electric clippers across her scalp, and you threatened to ruin her life."
"She provoked me!" Victoria shrieked, banging her shackled wrists against the tabletop with a sharp, metallic clang.
"The jury will never buy provocation against a twenty-year-old girl sitting quietly on a vanity stool," Sterling countered coldly.
"And that was before the federal prosecutors stepped into the building an hour ago."
Victoria froze, her cold blue eyes widening in sudden, paralyzing terror as the color drained from her cheeks.
"What do you mean, federal prosecutors?" she stammered, her fingers clenching into tight, trembling claws.
"Julian Vance was arrested at Gary Regional Airport with four hundred thousand dollars in illicit bearer bonds," Sterling replied, leaning forward to deliver the death blow.
"And he rolled on you, Victoria."
"Julian... confessed?" Victoria whispered, her jaw dropping open in utter disbelief.
"He gave them everything," Sterling nodded grimly.
"He gave them the encrypted passkeys, the Cayman shell corporation registration for Aegis Holdings, and the signed agreement showing your fifty-fifty split of the trust."
"He cut a proffer deal thirty minutes ago to save himself from a maximum security penitentiary."
"He threw you under the bus to shave five years off his sentence."
Victoria gripped the edges of the metal table, her chest heaving as hyperventilation took hold of her lungs.
"No, no, Julian wouldn't do that! We had an agreement! He swore Richard would never find out!"
"Richard Bennett didn't need to find out on his own," Sterling interrupted, pulling a fresh document from his leather briefcase.
"Eleanor Bennett uncovered your entire syndicate before she died five years ago."
"She deposited a forensic audit and your original marriage certificates into a vault at First National Bank of Chicago."
"Detective Reyes retrieved that vault two hours ago, accompanied by Olivia and Richard Bennett."
Victoria stared at the attorney as if she had just watched a ghost materialize in the dimly lit interrogation room.
"Eleanor?" she choked out, her voice barely a squeak. "That dead woman ruined this?"
"Eleanor Bennett protected her daughter with an ironclad legal fortress," Sterling said, closing his briefcase with a sharp, final snap.
"The United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois has filed formal RICO conspiracy charges against you."
"They are offering twenty years at FCI Danbury in exchange for a full guilty plea and forfeiture of all seized assets."
"If you take this to trial, you will lose, and the judge will sentence you to thirty-five years."
"I am not going to prison!" Victoria screamed, lunging across the table, her face twisting into a hideous mask of feral rage.
"I am Victoria Bennett! I deserve that house! I deserve that fortune!"
The heavy steel door opened instantly, and two burly female corrections officers stepped inside, grabbing Victoria by her upper arms.
"Sit down and shut your mouth, inmate," the taller officer commanded, twisting Victoria’s arms behind her back with practiced efficiency.
Victoria struggled against their grip, thrashing violently as the cold handcuffs bit deep into her wrists.
"Tell Richard I want to see him!" she wailed, tears of impotent rage streaming down her blotchy face.
"Tell him he's nothing without me! He was pathetic when I found him, and his little brat is worthless!"
Marcus Sterling stood up, picked up his briefcase, and looked down at his client with utter disgust.
"Mr. Bennett has already filed for an expedited annulment based on felony fraudulent inducement," Sterling said calmly.
"He never wants to see your face again, Victoria."
"And frankly, after watching that video of what you did to his child, neither does anyone else in this city."
The guards dragged the screaming, sobbing woman backward out of the interview room, her orange slip-ons squeaking uselessly against the concrete floor.
May you like
The heavy security door slammed shut, sealing Victoria Vance into the cold, windowless reality of her own making.
The trap had closed, and the empire of cruelty she had spent years building had collapsed entirely into dust.
