Chapter 4: The Sound of the Siren
The heavy brass doors of the ballroom swung open. This time, it wasn't the tuxedoed staff or the waitstaff—it was the federal authorities. The music had died, and the silence was now replaced by the low, steady hum of the approaching sirens from outside.
Julian looked around the room, desperately seeking an ally, but he found none. The investors, the board members, the politicians—all of them were distancing themselves as if he were a plague-carrier. They weren't looking at him with pity; they were looking at him with the cold, transactional calculation of people who knew when a ship was sinking.
“You thought I was the puppet,” Elena said, stepping closer to Julian, who was now backed against the table. “You thought I was the one you could push around because I had no family here, no leverage, no voice. But I was the one holding the keys to the kingdom’s audit. You made me your partner, Julian. You just forgot that partners have access to the same books.”
