Chapter 9 - Unraveling the Web
The sterile white interrogation room of the federal precinct smelled strongly of industrial disinfectant and stale coffee. Julian sat across a heavy metal table, thumbing through a thick stack of bank statements and encrypted email transcripts recovered from Marcus’s seized laptops. Across from him sat Special Agent Miller, a weathered investigator with sharp gray eyes and a quiet, methodical demeanor.
"The scope of their operation goes far beyond corporate embezzlement, Mr. Sterling," Agent Miller said, sliding a certified toxicology report across the table. "This confirms what your mother suspected during her final weeks. The cardiac event that claimed her life wasn't natural. Traces of a synthetic slow-acting compound were found in her personal tea supply—the exact same compound Marcus purchased online through a front company registered under Victoria’s maiden name."
Julian stared at the document, his vision blurring slightly. The grief he had felt six months ago returned with a sharp, agonizing edge, mingled now with a cold, unforgiving rage. Nana had tried desperately to save him from his own blind infatuation, and she had paid for that warning with her life.
"And Victoria?" Julian asked, his voice deadpan.
"She's refusing to speak without her legal team, but Marcus is already cooperating in exchange for a reduced sentence," Miller replied, leaning back in his chair. "He gave us the location of their primary offshore accounts in Zurich. We’ve already frozen the assets, but there's a complication regarding your corporate governance."
Julian looked up, frowning. "What kind of complication?"
"Victoria didn't just target your personal accounts," Miller explained, tapping a finger on a legal document. "She executed a series of emergency proxy votes during your absence this afternoon, transferring controlling interest of Sterling Logistics to an obscure holding firm based overseas. Without your signature to officially ratify the dissolution, that foreign firm can legally seize your company's entire inventory within forty-eight hours."
Julian felt a cold knot tighten in his stomach. Even from behind bars, Victoria had managed to deploy a final, devastating trap designed to strip him of everything he had built.
"Who controls that holding firm?" Julian asked quietly.
Agent Miller slid a single photograph across the table. It showed a sharp-featured, silver-haired man sitting in a private dining room in Geneva, signing a document bearing the corporate seal of Sterling Logistics.
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Julian’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief. He knew that man very well—it was his own estranged uncle, Victor Sterling, who had supposedly died in a shipwreck overseas twenty years ago.
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