My husband brought his mistress to the airport dressed like they were attending a wedding, all because he expected me to be there watching them together. / Chapter 36 / 50

Chapter 36 - The Fall of Julian Apex

The yacht surged violently forward, snapping two of the heavy mooring lines with explosive force. Cedar wood splintered along the pier as the hundred-foot vessel tore away from the dock.

"Arthur, wait! Don't leave me!" Julian coughed, clutching his bloody nose as he tried to scramble to his feet.

Arthur didn't even look back. He locked the bridge door from the inside, slamming the throttles forward. He was willing to sacrifice Julian, Chloe, and anyone else on board just to make a break for international waters.

Gordon moved like lightning. As the deck tilted from the violent acceleration, he closed the distance between himself and Julian, sweeping Julian's legs out from under him. Julian hit the wet teak with a sickening thud. Gordon pinned him beneath a heavy combat boot, pressing his rifle barrel directly between Julian's eyes.

"Move an inch," Gordon said quietly, "and your trial ends tonight."

Julian stared up at Gordon, sobbing through a ruined nose, his white tuxedo smeared with grime, sea water, and his own blood. "Gordon... please. We were colleagues. We ran in the same clubs. Don't do this... it was all Arthur! Arthur orchestrated the entire embezzlement scheme! He made me forge the documents!"

"Save it for the judge, Julian," I said coldly, walking over to where he lay. I reached down and picked up the master ledger that Arthur had dropped in his rush to the bridge. "You wanted to watch me suffer at the airport. You wanted me to see you with your prize. Take a good look around you, Julian. This is your kingdom now."

Julian buried his face in the deck, weeping pathetic, broken tears of utter defeat.

Meanwhile, the yacht was racing out of the bay at twenty knots, heading directly toward the jagged rocks of Blackthorn Reef. Inside the locked glass bridge, Arthur Vance was steering with frantic desperation, trying to clear the harbor entrance before the Coast Guard could deploy a blockade.