Chapter 9 - The Gala Confrontation
The balcony erupted into total chaos as Ethan and Margaret violently wrestled for the guns.
I didn't wait to see who would win.
I scrambled away from the edge, clutching the confession letter, and bolted down the grand staircase.
The front doors were already splintering open under the force of a police battering ram.
Dozens of SWAT officers flooded into the foyer, their tactical rifles raised.
"Upstairs! Balcony!" I screamed, pointing toward the master suite.
Officers charged past me just as a single, deafening gunshot echoed through the massive house.
A chilling silence followed.
I crept cautiously back up the stairs behind the trailing officers.
On the balcony, Margaret was pinned to the floor by three cops.
Ethan was sitting slumped against the stone railing, clutching his shoulder where a dark red stain was spreading rapidly.
He had been shot, but he was alive.
Margaret was screaming wildly as the officers locked the cuffs around her wrists.
"It was her!" Margaret shrieked, pointing a bloody finger at me.
"Claire planned all of this! She forced me to shoot him!"
The lead detective, the same man who had arrested me hours ago, stepped onto the balcony.
He looked at Margaret with absolute exhaustion.
"Save it for the judge, Mrs. Cole," the detective sighed.
"You have no proof I did anything wrong!" Margaret yelled frantically.
I stepped forward, stepping directly into the harsh glare of the police spotlight.
I held up the sealed white envelope for everyone to see.
"This is your handwritten confession to the murder of Ethan's father," I said clearly.
"And Arthur has already handed over the financial ledgers proving you embezzled billions from the family trust."
Margaret stopped screaming.
Her eyes darted frantically around the balcony, finally realizing she had absolutely no way out.
"It's over, Margaret," I said softly.
She looked at me, the elegant façade completely shattering.
She spat at my feet, her face twisting into pure venom.
"I should have poisoned you at dinner," she snarled.
The detective violently hauled her to her feet.
"Get her out of my sight," he ordered the officers.
As they dragged Margaret away, Ethan looked up at me from the floor, his eyes filled with terrified defeat.
"What happens to me now?" he asked weakly.
May you like
I looked down at the man I had once loved.
"I don't care," I answered, and walked away.
