Chapter 7 - The Federal Raid
The FBI agent marched into the ruined ballroom with a dozen heavily armed tactical officers behind him.
"Nicholas Vance?" the lead agent asked, holding up a federal arrest warrant.
Nicholas took a terrified step backward, his hands trembling as he realized he was trapped.
"My name is Nicholas Hayes, not Vance," my brother stammered, trying to correct the agent.
The agent offered a cold, humorless smile and slapped heavy steel handcuffs onto my brother's wrists.
"We know exactly who you are, Nicholas," the agent replied. "We've been tracking your illegal shell companies for six months."
My mother shrieked and tried to physically pull the FBI agent away from her precious son.
"He's a good boy, he's a successful executive!" my mother wailed hysterically.
"Your good boy has been laundering millions of dollars for Julian Vance's corporate espionage ring," the agent stated bluntly.
The pieces suddenly clicked together in my mind, making me feel physically sick.
Nicholas hadn't been an innocent victim of Chloe's betrayal at all.
He had orchestrated the entire marriage as a legal shield to merge his dirty money with Julian's tech empire.
Nicholas glared at me with pure, unadulterated hatred as the agents dragged him toward the door.
"You did this to me, Jenna!" Nicholas screamed, spit flying from his lips. "You always wanted to ruin my life!"
I looked at him with nothing but pity and completely turned my back on his pathetic tantrum.
My father collapsed into a chair, burying his face in his hands as his perfect family illusion burned to ash.
I rushed back to the paramedics, who were carefully lifting Emmett onto a mobile stretcher.
"Is he going to survive?" I asked the lead medic, my voice shaking with raw terror.
"The bullet missed his vital organs, but he needs surgery immediately," the medic confirmed.
I grabbed my purse and climbed into the back of the ambulance without asking for permission.
Emmett reached out with a trembling hand and weakly laced his fingers through mine.
"You handled that beautifully, Jenna," he rasped as the ambulance sirens began to wail.
"Just focus on breathing, Emmett," I told him, wiping a tear from my eye.
May you like
Suddenly, the ambulance swerved violently, throwing me hard against the metal wall of the cabin.
The back doors were ripped open by a masked man holding a tactical shotgun.
