Chapter 9 - The Confession
Clara reached the foot of the stage. She looked up at the man who had tried to murder her.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," Clara said, her voice dripping with venom.
Julian’s chest heaved. "Clara... you're alive. Thank god. The hospital told me you were missing..."
"Save it, Julian," Clara interrupted. She held up her hand and opened her palm. The silver cufflink gleamed under the chandeliers. "You dropped this. When you pinned me down and injected me with Tetrodotoxin. You lost it when I scratched your neck."
The crowd gasped. Julian’s hand instinctively went to his collar, where a faint scratch was healing.
"She's insane!" Julian screamed, his composure shattering. "She's off her medication! Arrest her!"
"The only one going to jail is you, Julian," Elias said, walking down the aisle. "We have the micro-USB. We have the emails. We know about NeuroGen, and we know about Dr. Pendelton."
At the mention of Pendelton, Julian broke. He looked wildly around the room for an exit. "Dad, do something!" he yelled to Archibald.
But Archibald Sterling was already backing away, abandoning his son to save himself.
"You faked the trials, Julian," Clara pressed, stepping up onto the stage. "You killed six people, and then you tried to kill me."
"Because you wouldn't keep your mouth shut!" Julian snapped, the truth finally erupting from him in a fit of rage. "You were going to ruin everything! Billions of dollars, my entire future, for what? A few sick old people who were going to die anyway?!"
The entire ballroom heard it. Every cell phone in the room was recording.
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"FBI! Nobody move!" Federal agents swarmed the ballroom from every exit, their tactical gear a stark contrast to the tuxedos and ballgowns.
Julian collapsed to his knees on the stage, weeping like a child as the handcuffs clicked tightly around his wrists.
