Chapter 8 - The Investor Meeting
Derek leaned back in his expensive leather chair, completely confident that his digital tracks had been entirely erased from existence.
He looked at the confused investors sitting around the table and offered them a smooth, deeply apologetic smile.
"As you can clearly see, my poor wife is suffering from severe paranoid delusions and has dragged the authorities into her madness."
The wealthy men in the expensive suits murmured among themselves, clearly unsure of how to process the chaotic scene unfolding before them.
Marlene quickly walked over to her son's side, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder to play the role of the tragic mother.
"We have a legal conservatorship order signed by a judge proving she is completely unfit to make any decisions," Marlene lied effortlessly.
I walked slowly toward the head of the long mahogany table, refusing to break eye contact with the man who had tormented me.
"The drive you plugged in didn't wipe anything, Derek, it simply copied your entire criminal history directly to the FBI," I revealed calmly.
Derek's arrogant smirk faltered for a fraction of a second, but he quickly masked his rising panic with another hollow laugh.
"You are bluffing, you pathetic, useless woman," he hissed quietly so the investors could not hear his toxic venom.
Elena confidently stepped forward and placed her glowing tablet directly in the center of the polished wooden table.
"We have absolute proof of your forged invoices, the illegal offshore accounts, and the ten million dollars you stole this morning."
Derek slammed his hands violently against the table, finally losing his carefully crafted composure in front of his precious audience.
"That money belonged to this company, and as the legal voting majority, I have every right to transfer it wherever I please!"
He pointed a shaking finger at the federal commander, demanding that I be arrested for corporate espionage and criminal trespassing.
"I haven't committed a single crime, but I am absolutely thrilled that you just confessed to moving that specific money," I smiled brightly.
Derek frowned in deep confusion, completely failing to understand why I was so happy about his massive financial theft.
"You see, Derek, I knew you would never be satisfied with just stealing my father's hard-earned corporate profits."
I turned to face the incredibly wealthy investors who had been sitting quietly around the table this entire time.
"I knew you were greedy enough to dip your filthy hands into the restricted federal development grant account."
Derek's face drained of all color as the horrifying reality of his final, massive transaction slowly began to set in.
The lead investor sitting at the far end of the table slowly stood up and casually unbuttoned his expensive suit jacket.
He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a heavy, incredibly shiny badge that clearly read Criminal Investigation Division.
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"We are not private corporate investors, Mr. Derek," the man stated with a cold, unforgiving tone.
"We are undercover agents for the Internal Revenue Service, and you just wired ten million dollars of federal bait money."
