Chapter 4 - The Setup
The police officers instantly grabbed my arms, forcefully twisting them behind my back to apply heavy steel handcuffs.
They loudly read me my Miranda rights, charging me with grand larceny and corporate embezzlement.
I was violently shoved into the back of a police cruiser in front of all my shocked coworkers.
They took me to the downtown precinct, locking me in a cold, concrete interrogation room for three agonizing hours.
The lead detective finally walked in, slamming a thick folder of fabricated evidence onto the metal table.
He showed me digital logs proving that the stolen corporate funds were transferred directly using my personal employee credentials.
I desperately tried to explain that my husband had stolen my passwords, but the detective simply laughed at my story.
He told me I was facing twenty years in federal prison and that child protective services would be taking my daughter.
My heart shattered into a million pieces at the thought of losing Skylar to the foster care system.
Just as the panic threatened to consume me entirely, the interrogation room door swung wide open.
Marcus walked in wearing his sharpest suit, carrying a stack of federal injunction documents signed by a judge.
He aggressively informed the detective that the evidence was purely circumstantial and demanded my immediate release on bail.
The precinct had no choice but to process my release, and I walked out into the bright afternoon sun feeling entirely defeated.
Marcus drove us back to the secure law firm, assuring me that he had federal agents looking into Mr. Sterling's offshore accounts.
I rushed into the conference room, desperate to hold Skylar and assure her that everything was going to be fine.
She was sitting on the leather sofa, her face completely pale as she stared down at a video playing on her smartphone.
I sat next to her and looked at the screen, my blood instantly turning to absolute ice.
The video was posted publicly on Hailey's social media account just thirty minutes ago.
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It showed Gertrude standing on our front porch, pouring Skylar’s leftover instant soup into a bowl for a stray neighborhood dog.
The video abruptly cut to the poor animal collapsing onto the pavement, foaming at the mouth and seizing violently before dying.
