Chapter 18 - The Cannibal Feast
The collapse was instantaneous and vicious.
Before the broadcast had even ended, the sound of roaring maritime engines cut across the horizon. Three high-speed interceptor cutters bearing the insignia of the United States Coast Guard and federal maritime marshals breached the reef waters, their blue lights flashing across the turquoise sea.
They hadn't come for me. They had come for the Panamanian-flagged yacht.
Richard stood on the terrace beside me, watching the cutters encircle his mother’s ship like wolves closing in on a wounded whale. His hands gripped the balustrade so hard his knuckles turned white.
"She’s going to prison," Richard whispered, his voice trembling between horror and a sick, twisted vindication. "She sacrificed me to save herself, and now she’s going to die in a federal penitentiary."
"You did the same thing on the helipad, Richard," I said, not even turning my head to look at him. "The only difference is that you were clumsy, and she was arrogant."
Richard slowly turned to me, tears running freely down his cheeks. "Olivia... you have everything now. The money, the island, the company. Please. Just let me have a cottage on the north shore. I’ll work the grounds. I’ll do whatever you want. Just don't throw me to the wolves."
I finally turned to look at him, taking in the full, pathetic measure of the man who had once been my absolute world.
"When the hurricane winds were tearing the shingles off the roof, Richard, I asked you to hold my hand. You pulled away, locked the helicopter door, and looked down at me through the glass as the pilot lifted off."
I stepped closer to him, my voice barely above a whisper, cold as deep arctic ice.
May you like
"I didn't drown, Richard. But you are going to spend the rest of your life watching me build a paradise on top of your family's ruins."
I nodded to Kaelen. "Escort Mr. Vance to the pier. The marshals have an arrest warrant for him as an accessory to the trust fraud. Let mother and son share the same transport."
