Chapter 6
The silence that followed Vance’s declaration was absolute, broken only by the distant caw of a crow overhead. Clara felt the breath leave her lungs as if she had been struck in the chest with a heavy iron bar. Her arms tightened around Leo instinctively, burying the boy's face deeper into her shoulder so he couldn't see the raw panic contorting her face.
"That's impossible," Clara whispered, her voice shaking violently. "I resigned from the firm eight months ago. My signature hasn't been valid on any municipal document since the audit."
Arthur didn't look at her. Instead, he stared fixedly at Vance’s polished leather shoes, his jaw twitching rhythmically. "The audit was falsified," Arthur said, his voice shockingly calm now, devoid of all earlier defiance. "Every single document filed after the acquisition was routed through a proxy server. Clara’s name was just a placeholder to keep the liability away from the senior partners."
Vance clicked his tongue, shaking his head slowly. "A placeholder that carries a ten-year prison sentence for criminal negligence resulting in infrastructure collapse. The district attorney already has the digital footprint. They’re executing a search warrant on your primary residence as we speak."
Leo shifted restlessly in Clara’s arms, his small hands clutching the collar of her grey shirt. "Mommy, I want to go home. It's cold here."
"We're going, baby. We're going right now," Clara choked out, blinking back hot, furious tears. She glared at Arthur with pure venom. "You used me. You set me up from the very beginning, didn't you?"
Arthur finally raised his head, meeting her gaze with tired, defeated eyes. "I didn't have a choice, Clara. If the board went down, the pensions for three hundred families vanished with it. I had to point them somewhere."
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Before Clara could unleash the fury building inside her, Tracey stepped forward from behind Arthur’s legs. The little girl looked up at the tall investigator with innocent confusion, holding out a small, metallic object she had just picked up from the bottom of the pavilion step—a silver key bearing an engraved tag that read Archive Vault B.
"Mister," Tracey asked innocently, holding the key out toward Vance. "Is this what you're looking for?"
