Chapter 10 - The Confession Tape
Elena stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes fixed on Marcus, who was slumped in the leather chair, whimpering softly as blood dripped from his lower lip. The opulent boardroom, usually a place of cold corporate calculation, now felt like a medieval torture chamber.
"Why are you doing this to him?" Elena demanded, stepping forward despite Attorney Miller’s warning hand on her shoulder. "He’s your own flesh and blood!"
"Flesh and blood is easily replaced when gangrene sets in," Victoria replied coldly, not even glancing at her whimpering grandson. She pressed a small silver button on the sleek control panel built into the oak conference table.
Instantly, a massive projection screen at the front of the room flickered to life. The audio began to play before the image stabilized—a clear, high-definition recording of Marcus sitting in a dimly lit room, speaking directly into a hidden camera.
"I did it for the money," the recorded version of Marcus confessed on the screen, his voice echoing off the mahogany walls. "Julian promised me a clean break and ten million offshore if I used Elena’s biometric data to set her up for the biotech theft. I didn't care if she went to prison. She was just a stepping stone to fund my new life in Rio."
Marcus in the chair shrank down, sobbing quietly as the video played out his betrayal for everyone in the room to hear.
Elena stared at the screen, a cold numbness washing over her soul. Every sweet word Marcus had ever spoken to her, every promise of a shared future, every tender glance during their two-year courtship—it had all been a calculated lie designed to build a patsy for a corporate coup.
"You heard it from the horse's mouth," Julian said smoothly, walking over to the head of the table and pouring himself a glass of amber scotch. "Marcus was my instrument. He thought he was playing me, but he was just dancing to my tune. And you, Elena, were the unfortunate collateral damage."
"Why?" Elena whispered, tears finally streaming down her cheeks, though her voice burned with intense fury. "Why involve me at all? Why not just use anyone else on the street?"
"Because an ordinary criminal looks suspicious," Victoria answered, leaning forward, her aged eyes flashing with ruthless cunning. "A grieving, betrayed bride makes for a much more sympathetic defendant while the real thieves quietly transfer the remaining assets to our overseas accounts."
Attorney Miller stepped forward, placing a protective hand in front of Elena. "This is conspiracy, extortion, and systemic framing on a massive scale. I have recording devices on my person right now. Everything you’re saying is being transmitted directly to federal investigators."
Julian laughed, a sharp, arrogant sound, and tossed a small black device onto the table in front of the lawyer. It was Miller’s encrypted recording pen, sparking slightly where the internal circuitry had been fried.
"We own the building, Counselor," Julian smiled coldly. "We own the frequency jammers on this floor. And very soon, we’ll own every single patent Vance Biotech holds."
Victoria stood up from her chair, walking slowly toward Elena with heavy, deliberate steps until she stopped just inches away.
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"Sign the final asset transfer document, Elena," Victoria whispered softly, her voice like ice. "Or you will spend the rest of your natural life in a maximum-security prison cell taking the fall for my grandsons' treason."
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