Chapter 5 - A Broken Pawn's Confession
By eleven o'clock, the boardroom had been purged. Three compromised directors had resigned, their voting rights absorbed into my family trust, giving me an unassailable sixty-two percent controlling stake.
Yet, the core mystery remained unsolved: *Who was behind Aegis Vanguard?*
Thirty minutes later, Maxwell escorted me down into the reinforced basement holding area of Miami's central federal building. The damp concrete hallway echoed with the heavy clinking of metal doors.
Ethan was sitting at a metal table in an interrogation room, wearing an ill-fitting orange jumpsuit. His perfectly coiffed hair from the night before was greasy and tangled, dark purple circles hanging under his hollow eyes. When the heavy door opened and I walked in, he flinched as if expecting a physical blow.
"Claire..." he croaked, his voice hoarse. "Claire, please... you have to get me out of here. My lawyer won't answer my calls. Victoria took the first flight to Dubai—she abandoned me!"
I pulled out the metal chair across from him and sat down, folding my hands over my knee. Maxwell stood by the door, an immovable sentinel.
"Victoria didn't make it to Dubai, Ethan," I said calmly. "Julian had her flight flagged at customs. She’s currently being questioned in room three."
Ethan collapsed forward, burying his face in his hands, weeping pathetic, shuddering tears. "I’m sorry, Claire. I swear to God I’m sorry. I was stupid. I let the power get to my head. I thought if I controlled Zenith, your father’s memory wouldn't hang over me like a curse..."
"Stop crying, Ethan. It disgusts me," I said with chilling indifference. "I’m not here to talk about our sham of a marriage. I’m here to ask you about the eight hundred thousand dollars."
Ethan froze. His head snapped up, genuine terror flashing across his features. "What... what do you mean?"
"The money didn't stay in your Swiss account," I pressed, leaning in closer. "It was routed within four minutes to an encrypted account owned by Aegis Vanguard. Who gave you the clearance codes, Ethan? Who told you to target Zenith's deep-sea energy patents?"
Ethan began shaking violently. "I can't... I can't say his name, Claire. If I tell you, I won't survive my first night in federal prison."
"You won't survive a twenty-year sentence for corporate treason anyway," I countered ruthlessly. "Tell me right now, or I instruct the prosecutor to drop protective custody and push for maximum security at ADX Florence."
Ethan swallowed hard, his throat clicking. He looked around the barren room like a cornered animal waiting for the butcher.
"It wasn't a corporation..." Ethan whispered, his lips trembling. "It was an old associate of your father. He contacted me eighteen months ago. He knew everything about Zenith's financial blind spots. He gave me the mistress, he funded my lifestyle, he told me you were weak and oblivious..."
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"His name, Ethan."
"Jonathan Cross," Ethan gasped out. "He’s back, Claire. He told me he was going to take everything your father stole from him twenty years ago... starting with you."
