Chapter 4 - The Offshore Account
The entire hospital room fell into a heavy, suffocating silence.
Vanessa stopped screaming and stared at the detective in absolute, paralyzing disbelief.
"Read that message again," Vanessa whispered, her voice trembling violently.
The detective held the phone up so she could clearly see the screen.
"The money has been successfully transferred to the offshore account. I am leaving without you," the detective repeated slowly.
Vanessa's face twisted into a mask of pure, unadulterated terror.
"No," she gasped, shaking her head frantically.
"Julian loves me."
"We planned this entire thing together."
"He was supposed to wait for me at the private airstrip so we could fly to Malibu."
The detective scrolled through the recent message history on her unsecured phone.
"According to these texts, you gave Julian complete administrative access to Arthur's primary corporate banking accounts this morning," the detective stated grimly.
"He told me he needed the access to secure the funds before the probate lawyers froze everything!" Vanessa screamed, entirely losing her mind.
Richard Sterling adjusted his glasses and looked at her with complete pity.
"You gave a criminal direct access to the corporate accounts before I filed the new will with the courts," Richard explained quietly.
"He completely drained the liquid assets and abandoned you."
Vanessa collapsed to her knees on the sterile linoleum floor, weeping uncontrollably.
She had spent months slowly poisoning her husband, risking a life sentence in prison, only to be completely betrayed by her secret lover.
She had absolutely nothing left.
The detectives roughly pulled her to her feet and dragged her sobbing out of the hospital room.
Caleb stood perfectly still in the corner of the room, completely overwhelmed by the chaotic nightmare unfolding around him.
He looked down at the newly signed will resting on the bedside table.
He was suddenly a multi-millionaire, the sole owner of a massive commercial furniture empire.
But the liquid cash he desperately needed to save his sister's life was completely gone.
"Mr. Sterling," Caleb said, his voice shaking with panic.
"If Julian stole the money, how am I going to pay for Mia's heart surgery?"
"She only has two weeks left before her heart completely fails."
Richard placed a comforting hand on the young man's shoulder.
"Do not panic, Caleb," the attorney said reassuringly.
"The corporate accounts Julian drained only held about fifteen million dollars in liquid cash."
"The remaining sixty-seven million is tied up in real estate, physical factories, and investment portfolios."
"We can quickly liquidate a property or secure a massive loan against the assets to pay for the surgery immediately."
Caleb let out a massive sigh of relief, thanking God that Arthur had trusted him.
"I promise I will run his company exactly the way he would have wanted," Caleb swore sincerely.
Richard smiled kindly and began packing up his leather briefcase.
"I need to head directly to the courthouse to officially file this will and freeze all remaining assets," Richard explained.
"Stay here and wait for the coroner to transport Arthur's body."
Richard walked out of the room, leaving Caleb entirely alone with the deceased billionaire.
Caleb walked slowly over to the bed and looked down at Arthur's peaceful face.
"Thank you, Mr. Vance," Caleb whispered, tears welling in his tired eyes.
"I will save my sister, and I will make sure your incredible legacy lives on forever."
Suddenly, a loud, heavy thud echoed from the hallway outside the room.
Caleb frowned and walked cautiously toward the heavy wooden door.
He slowly pushed the door open and looked out into the brightly lit hospital corridor.
The hallway was completely empty, except for a crumpled figure lying motionless on the floor near the elevators.
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It was Richard Sterling, the attorney.
His leather briefcase was missing, and a massive pool of blood was rapidly spreading from beneath his head.
