Briggs felt every pair of eyes watching him. Judging him. Waiting to see what he would do. And Briggs hated feeling judged. Especially by a stranger. Especially by an old woman.

Vance looked frantically around the terminal. "This is harassment! Security! Security!"

Two TSA officers approached, but before they could intervene, three men in dark suits flashed FBI badges, stepping in to block the officers. The feds had been waiting.

"Elias Vance," the lead FBI agent said, stepping forward with a pair of steel handcuffs. "You are under arrest for grand larceny, corporate fraud, and conspiracy to commit murder."

Vance stumbled backward, dropping his duffel bag. "No! You have no proof! That old woman is insane! She's framing me!"

Silas stepped forward, pulling Kael’s burner phone from his pocket and dropping it onto Vance’s discarded duffel bag. "We have the wire transfers. We have the text messages authorizing the hit. And we have Kael in custody, currently singing like a bird for a plea deal."

Vance’s knees buckled. The reality of his situation crashed down on him with the weight of a collapsing building. There was no escape. The arrogance, the entitlement, the years of abusing those beneath him—it had all led to this exact moment.

"You took everything from me," Vance sobbed, looking up at Beatrice with pathetic, tear-filled eyes.

"I took nothing from you that you did not freely squander," Beatrice replied coldly. "You were given a position of trust, and you used it to line your pockets and terrorize my staff. The quality of leadership, Mr. Vance, was tested at the front door. And you failed entirely."

The FBI agent grabbed Vance roughly by the arm, spinning him around and snapping the handcuffs onto his wrists. The click of the metal echoed in Vance’s ears like the slamming of a prison door.

As they dragged Vance away, crying and begging through the crowded terminal, the onlookers pulled out their phones, recording the utter humiliation of a man who had once thought he was untouchable.

Beatrice watched him go, her expression unreadable. She turned to Silas. "I believe our business here is concluded."