Chapter 7 - The Shattered Glass
The dining room descended into a suffocating, breathless silence.
Michael Stanton slowly raised his head from the booklet. His face was no longer that of a friendly mentor; it was the face of a man who had built an empire by destroying his enemies without mercy.
He looked at the printed wire transfer documents showing three point two million dollars stolen directly from his private estate accounts. Then he looked at the clear, crisp photographs of his thirty-two-year-old wife emerging from a hotel suite with the man he had trusted to run his litigation division.
"Michael..." Derek stammered, the color rapidly draining from his face as he looked around the table at the horrified, staring faces of his colleagues. "Michael, I don't know what this is! Monica has been mentally unstable since her fall last night! She’s hallucinating! She forged these documents—"
"These are certified bank ledgers from Vanguard Holdings in Grand Cayman, Derek," Michael said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "I just received an emergency notification from my personal banker five minutes ago. Federal regulators have frozen my trust accounts because of an ongoing embezzlement investigation involving your private credentials."
Derek’s breath hitched. He took a step back, hitting the side of his chair. "No... no, Michael, listen to me—"
"And this photograph?" Michael raised the page showing Derek with his hand firmly rested on Julianna’s waist inside the downtown lobby. "Is this forged too, Julianna?"
Julianna burst into hysterical, uncontrollable sobs, hiding her face in her hands. "Michael, I'm sorry! He told me you were retiring! He told me he was taking over the firm!"
"You backstabbing, miserable piece of trash," Michael spat, standing up slowly from his seat. He towered over Derek, his chest heaving with fury. "You didn't just steal my money. You brought me into your house to parade your little theft in front of my face."
"Michael, please!" Derek panicked, looking frantically at his parents. "Dad, tell him! This is a setup! Monica did this!"
Arthur Bennett stood up, his face red with embarrassment and confusion as he looked at the offshore bank ledgers bearing his wife's maiden name. "Derek... what are these accounts? Why is my wife's maiden name on a offshore holding company in Nassau?"
"Dad, shut up!" Derek screamed, losing his composure completely.
He spun around to face me, his eyes wide, bloodshot, and filled with a dangerous, violent rage. The polished, aristocratic lawyer had completely evaporated, leaving behind the cruel, insecure bully he had always been behind closed doors.
"You ruined me!" Derek shrieked, taking two aggressive strides toward me, his hands curling into heavy fists. "You pathetic, worthless bitch! I gave you everything! I paid for this house! I gave you a life!"
He raised his hand, lunging forward to strike me in front of all twenty guests.
I didn't flinch. I didn't step back.
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Before Derek’s hand could reach my face, the heavy double glass doors of the front foyer blew open with a thunderous crash.
"Police! Nobody move!" a loud, commanding voice boomed through the house.
